The Makings of an Auror 5 Chapters
by harrypotter12
Summary: First five chapters


The Makings of An Auror Chapter One  
  
This chapter has been dedicated to Imbri . Before you flame me, I used to be HarryPotter12 before taking the old fic off and editing it and changing my name to ClaraBarnes  
  
  
  
"Test scores.Granger.Granger," Hermione mumbled, running a finger across the posted test score list for her name. "Yes!" She punched the air happily. "Three hundred and fifty-two percent.as usual," she added as an afterthought. With a huge grin on her face, she turned and left the dungeons. Harry and Ron were waiting for her right outside the dungeon door.  
  
"So, what was it?" Ron asked, as she emerged, gripping his arms and trying to keep his teeth from chattering. The dungeons were awfully cold.  
  
"Three hundred and fifty-two percent," she smiled, flipping her hair back happily. Ron rolled his eyes.  
  
"Should have seen it coming," he muttered.  
  
"What about ours?" Harry asked quickly.  
  
"Well, Harry, you got an eighty-nine percent," (Harry groaned and buried his face in his hands) "and Ron, you got a.well, you got a seventy-five," Hermione finished, biting her lip.  
  
"Why that good-for-nothing,--,"  
  
"Ron, as much as you hate Snape, I don't think it a good idea for you to.well, say anything at the moment..." Hermione warned him.  
  
Ron scoffed and unfolded his arms. "Why not?"  
  
"Mr. Potter.Weasley.where were you two last night? Forgot about your detention didn't you?" Snape sneered, his face erupting into a wide, disheveled grin. Ron audibly gulped.  
  
"We.well, we sort of.umm."  
  
"Well, you see Professor," Harry interrupted, "we were strolling along outside, like we always do, and all of a sudden, this huge manticore appears out of nowhere! And then, we don't really know how it happened; we were in the hospital wing. We begged Madame Pomfrey to let us do our detentions, but she wouldn't let us go. We had to.erm.stay for the night because or condition was so.severe!" Harry lied, and horribly.  
  
"And if I were to go and check Madame Pomfrey's records, would your name be under yesterday's date?" Snape smirked.  
  
"Oh, you really don't have to do that professor--."  
  
"Double detentions tonight, one for the mishap with the cauldron involving Mr. Malfoy's face, and another for your pathetic lying skills." Snape turned and walked away, a nasty grin on his face. Hermione sighed.  
  
"Why weren't you at detention last night anyway?" she asked them curiously, rummaging in her book bag for her Arithmancy book.  
  
"You see--,"  
  
"Don't you even try it on me Harry James Potter," Hermione grinned. Harry sighed.  
  
"Tell her Ron."  
  
"We were in Hogsmeade," Ron muttered sheepishly, his cheeks turning pink. "Getting.erm.sweets, and, um, stuff. But we saved you some!" He reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a handful of candy.wrappers. "Oops, they're here somewhere."  
  
"Then you deserve this detention tonight," she scolded.  
  
"Snape already made that clear Hermione," Ron replied bitterly, shoving the candy wrappers back in his pocket. Hermione rolled her eyes and assumed her usual 'serves-you-right' look. They entered the Great Hall and sat down at their usual spot at the Gryffindor table. Students chattered happily around them, and rain drizzled from the bewitched ceiling, giving the Great Hall a misty appearance. Hermione propped her Arithmancy book open and grabbed an apple nearby.  
  
"Hermione!" Ron groaned. "Arithmancy again? I swear, if that wasn't a book, you'd have married it by now." He spotted something on her ring finger. "Oh God.you already have."  
  
"Shut up Ron," she replied, rubbing her ring finger. "My mum gave this to me as an early birthday present."  
  
"Oh great," Harry interrupted, a look of disgust on his face. "Look who's coming." Ron and Hermione turned around to see what Harry had pointed out. Draco Malfoy was approaching the table. If it wasn't for the large bandage on his nose, he'd have his usual smirk.  
  
"Well hello Malfoy," Hermione said politely. "I see your.erm, injury hasn't affected your oversized ego one bit. Nice to see you!" she smiled. Draco began to sneer but he quickly stopped. His nose was probably hurting him, even if he didn't show it.  
  
"Oversized ego? More like oversized nose," Harry whispered. Ron went into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.  
  
Malfoy made a rude gesture at Ron, abruptly causing him to stop laughing. Crabbe and Goyle guffawed stupidly behind him.  
  
"Ooh, real witty. That has to be your best comeback yet!" Hermione announced. She set her book on the table and applauded lightly before picking it up again and biting into her apple. "Oh, by the way. What did you come over here for?" Malfoy looked back at Crabbe and Goyle and sauntered off. Harry and Ron were looking at Hermione with a look of admiration and fury.  
  
"Hermione! That was brilliant! But he's probably added you to his list of people to kill," Harry informed her, sympathetically.  
  
"Nah, I've been on that list for years," she grinned, turning the page of her Arithmancy book.  
  
"Did you see Malfoy's nose though?" Ron exclaimed, feeling his own nose. "When Harry and I did that.thing with the cauldron, his nose was three times its normal size and it was purple!"  
  
"Uh-huh," she replied, bringing her book closer to her face. Suddenly, someone tapped her on her shoulder. Hermione groaned and whipped around.  
  
"What is it Malfoy! Oh! Headmaster!" she smiled nervously. Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was standing in front of her, eyes twinkling, and Draco Malfoy was right behind him.  
  
"Yes, Miss Granger," he smiled kindly, patting her shoulder affectionately. "Would you please accompany Mr. Malfoy and myself to the office for a meeting?"  
  
"Why of course," she replied, wondering what could be wrong. She glanced back at Harry and Ron, and they nodded, but not before casting Malfoy a dark look. She put her Arithmancy book back in her bag and stood up. She was worried, because Dumbledore hardly looked this grave. He led them to his office, first past the gargoyle (the password was Drooble's Best Blowing Gum), and then up the magnificent winding staircase. They entered Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore indicated the chairs, and Malfoy and Hermione sat down.  
  
"I have some startling news," he said, folding his arms, fixing his piercing stare on the two of them. "I have just received word from a reliable and anonymous source that Voldemort has plans to attack the school." Hermione gasped and Malfoy cursed loudly.  
  
"A plan to attack the school?" Hermione repeated. "But Professor.I thought that the one thing Voldemort feared most of all was.well, you." She shifted uncomfortably in her chair as Dumbledore smiled gently.  
  
"He seems to have conquered that fear," he stated calmly and simply. Hermione went silent again.  
  
"Well that's, well, interesting news Professor, but what the hell, err, heck can we do about it?" Malfoy asked.  
  
"That is why I called both of you here," Dumbledore continued. "There is something you can do for me. I would like to send both of you to an Auror Training Camp for two months." Hermione's mouth fell open in shock.  
  
"But Professor!" she exclaimed, standing up abruptly and nearly causing her chair to fall over. "Aurors? We've hardly begun our seventh year and you're asking us to become.. Aurors?"  
  
"Yes.sadly I am. I feel this is essential for your future though. If indeed Voldemort will attack the school, then we will need to be prepared. Besides. I clearly remember Alastor Moody saying that you, Ms. Granger, would particularly make a good Auror." He beamed at Hermione, who had sat back down again, and she grew red. Malfoy rolled his eyes.  
  
"I hardly know anything of the job though," she mumbled, becoming interested in the hem of her robes.  
  
"Well that is quite simple. Aurors act as.policemen, as Muggles would say. They rid the wizarding world of dark magic. Prosecuting murderers, patrolling Azkaban, that is when the Dementors get out of hand, act as detectives..."  
  
"Detectives?" Hermione wondered aloud.  
  
"Yes. Aurors are also used for detective work. If someone's murdered, you send an Auror to investigate the scene. They normally look for traces of dark magic. Some spells even leave clues behind, such as scorch marks, and one spell even leaves blue power on the victim. So this helps them continue with finding the enemy. And Mr. Malfoy is oddly silent. Is anything wrong?"  
  
"Well, not really professor," Malfoy replied, taking his hands out of his pockets. "It's just.this is all so unexpected. I think I can speak both for myself and Granger," (he said her name bitterly) "that we had no idea that this was coming."  
  
"Ahh, I see," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. Hermione glanced around the room. She spotted a pensive, sitting in the corner inside a glass case, along with many other interesting trinkets Hermione assumed warned you if there was dark magic nearby. The many portraits of previous Hogwarts headmasters and headmistresses were all watching them, discussing things quietly amongst themselves. Hermione started when Dumbledore spoke.  
  
"Well, I see as both of you are too reluctant to go, I'll have to make a change of plans."  
  
"Professor Dumbledore!" Hermione exploded. "We.I mean, I would be interested in going to the Auror training camp."  
  
"Of course, nobody never said anything about not going," interrupted Draco.  
  
"Excellent!" he beamed. "I have complete confidence in you. You will leave tomorrow morning at five o'clock. Pack your essentials and meet me in front of the gargoyle outside of my office."  
  
"So soon?" Malfoy asked.  
  
"The sooner, the better Mr. Malfoy." They both nodded. "When you arrive, you will check in to the Crystal Suites, and if anyone gives you any trouble, just say Albus Dumbledore sent you."  
  
"Yes Professor."  
  
***  
  
Hermione straightened up and looked around her empty Head Girl dormitory. Nearly everything was packed. Her wardrobe was completely empty expect for a few dress robes she had decided to leave behind. She had also magically expanded her trunk so that it had extra room for her favorite books. Just a few more things and.  
  
"Hey Herm!" Ginny said, appearing at the entrance of Hermione's door. Her eyes landed on the open suitcase and she froze. ".Why are you packing?"  
  
"Hey Gin," Hermione responded, still glancing around the room. "I'm packing because.uhh, well because.my mother's sick."  
  
"She is?" Ginny asked, her emerald eyes full of concern. "What's she sick with?"  
  
"I actually don't know. My dad's only sent an owl this morning, and he said that she really wanted to see me. I've gotten special permission from Dumbledore."  
  
"Gosh, that doesn't sound good." Ginny ran her fingers over Hermione's sheets. "It's not.life threatening.is it?" she asked slowly, taking a seat.  
  
"Well, that's just the thing. We're not sure yet." Hermione mentally slapped herself. Dumbledore had strictly advised Malfoy and Hermione to keep this a secret, but she couldn't ignore the fresh wave of guilt she felt in the pit of her stomach.  
  
"Oh. That's too bad," Ginny replied, her face falling. "Anyway, how does it feel to be head girl?" Ginny smiled, nudging Hermione.  
  
"It feels pretty good actually. But I wonder who Dumbledore's going to substitute fur us." she said, more to herself than to Ginny.  
  
"Us?" Ginny asked again, her face contorted in confusion. Hermione cursed to herself.  
  
"I meant me. My brain's all out of whack today, I can't sort one thing out from another."  
  
"Malfoy's head boy isn't he? That little git." she snarled, her voice full of hate.  
  
"Yes he is," she muttered, distracted from adding something else to her suitcase. "There. Everything is packed," Hermione said, abruptly changing the subject and stuffing a pair of socks into her suitcase. "Will you look after Crookshanks for me?" The ginger cat had just jumped onto the bed and began to curl into a fluffy ball.  
  
"Of course. Come on Crookshanks!" Ginny said, snapping her fingers. Crookshanks opened one sleepy eye, and then closed it, turning his ugly squashed face away from her. "Argh! You stupid cat," she scowled, seizing the great big fur ball, Crookshanks hissing in protest.  
  
"I'd better get to sleep. I need to leave early in the morning, so you probably won't be up then," Hermione finished. Ginny sighed deeply, her shoulders sagging. "Oh Gin, don't do that. You won't even know I'm gone."  
  
"That's what I hope," she said, hugging Hermione. Hermione hugged her back.  
  
"Don't worry, it'll go by faster than you think."  
  
"Yeah, hopefully it will. I've got a certain guy on my mind anyway," Ginny grinned, a dreamy look on her face. Hermione shook her head hopelessly.  
  
"Goodnight!"  
  
"Night," Ginny replied, exiting the dormitory. Hermione grabbed the pajamas she had specifically set out for herself, and her toothbrush, and then trudged into the bathroom to get ready for bed. As she brushed her teeth, she couldn't help but gaze at her reflection. She hadn't changed in looks, as far as she could tell. She was just the same old Hermione; bushy hair, plain brown eyes.well maybe she'd changed in height. Though, even if she was 5'3", it was nothing compared to how tall Ron was. He had grown to a towering 6'3", and he teased her constantly about it. Yet she'd just laugh and tell him to get back to writing his potion's essay. Harry was barely 5'11", but at least he wasn't as tall as Ron. A lump formed in Hermione's throat. She hadn't really let the words sink in yet. Leaving, for two months, no Harry or Ron, stuck with Malfoy.it all seemed unreal, as if it were a dream. She blew out her bathroom candle and then went over to her bed. Snuggling into the covers, she snapped her fingers and the candles went out.  
  
***  
  
Hermione awoke to her loud and obnoxious alarm clock, which was screeching in her ear.  
  
"Yes." she muttered to the clock. "I'm up, ok?" She got dressed slowly, stumbling every now and then from her sleepiness, trying to stuff her immobile limbs into some clothes. Not paying much attention to her hair, she pulled it up into a quick bun. After fifteen minutes of strenuous work, she was dressed and ready to go. Quietly grabbing her bags, she used a levitating spell on them and walked down the stairs to the common room. Expecting to find it deserted, she walked right past the two people sitting in armchairs by the fire.  
  
"Wait, Hermione!" said a too-familiar voice. She spun around.  
  
"Harry? Ron?" she asked in disbelief. "What are you doing up, it's nearly five!" Ron and Harry glanced at each other.  
  
"Thought you were going to leave without saying goodbye?" Ron asked, standing up. Harry followed suit.  
  
"Ginny told us last night you were packing, and that you were leaving early. We've been down here for an hour waiting for you," Harry explained. "Why weren't you going to say goodbye?"  
  
"Oh Harry, Ron.my mum goes into surgery today, and I wanted to get there before they took her down to the operating room. You understand don't you?" she asked carefully, biting her lip.  
  
"Well of course we understand," Harry said, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. "But you had time to tell us yesterday, didn't you?"  
  
"I was going to owl you when I got there," she explained quickly. Harry and Ron nodded slowly, but they still looked slightly hurt. Hermione sighed, set down her luggage (with a spell) and walked up to both of them.  
  
"I'm going to miss you guys," she said truthfully. Hermione grabbed both of then by the collar and pulled them into a hug. Ron cleared his throat loudly, his face burning up.  
  
"We'll miss you," Ron said, looking relieved to see that she had let go of him. Hermione let her gaze rest on the two of them, taking every intricate detail in.  
  
"The two months will go by quickly, I'm sure of it," she explained. "You'll be chasing after girls, Ron, and Harry, you'll be busy practicing Quidditch." Ron turned red and Harry merely shrugged.  
  
"Well I'd better go," she said, pointing her wand and making her luggage levitate again. But before she could leave, Harry had her by the upper arm. Ron took one look at this simple gesture and cleared his throat again.  
  
"I'll be upstairs if you need me Harry," Ron said quickly. Harry mouthed the words "thank you" before turning back to Hermione.  
  
"Herm. are you sure there isn't anything you want to tell me? Are you going to be ok?" Harry asked quietly.  
  
"Of course! It's my mother I'm worried about, not me," she replied. "Why would I have any secrets to keep?" He looked at her thoughtfully for a minute before drawing her close and kissing her on the forehead.  
  
"I love you." he whispered into her ear.  
  
"Harry, you're acting as if you'll never see me again," she said. But Harry had been her boyfriend now for two months, (they had decided that by owls over the summer) and she kind of expected him to act this way. She hugged him around the middle.  
  
"Well," he muttered, growing red and becoming very interested in his shoes. "Just.take care will you? Don't do anything stupid, or--,"  
  
"Now you're treating me like Ron," she giggled. He smiled despite himself.  
  
"Alright, alright. In other words, I'm going to miss you."  
  
"And I'll miss you." Her watch beeped and she looked down at it. "Oh my gosh! I've gotta run Harry, I'm late. Love you!" she said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. And with that, she fled out of the portrait hole, leaving a depressed Harry behind. Hermione bolted down the corridors, ignoring numerable prefects who all said, 'No running through the corridors!' She reached the gargoyle in front of Dumbledore's office, and she saw Dumbledore was patiently waiting for her. She thought Malfoy hadn't turned up until she spotted him behind Dumbledore. It was almost as if he was hiding. He had also removed the bandage on his nose, and she was slightly displeased to see it had fully healed.  
  
"Ahh Miss Granger, we thought you weren't coming!" Dumbledore smiled, and he pointed to her watch. She looked at it and realized she was two minutes late.  
  
"Umm, Professor, I'm sorry." she began, doubled over, trying to catch her breath.  
  
"No need to be. According to my standards, you were fashionably late. And as much as I'd like to chat, we'd better get you two moving. You have a long day ahead of you." Clutching the stitch in her side, she followed Dumbledore down a large staircase and into the entrance hall. When Dumbledore opened the front doors, the rain blew in, causing them to stagger back before moving on. Blinking against the rain, Hermione looked out across the grounds and saw the Knight Bus, it's polished doors reflecting the lightning that had just flashed above their heads. A young wizard stepped from the bus, carrying a large purple umbrella. He looked no older than twenty-two.  
  
"Hello, my name is Stan Shunpike and I'll be your conductor today. Awful weather, isn't it Professor Dumbledore sir?" he asked, looking up towards the sky.  
  
"Yes, hopefully it won't trouble the driver?"  
  
"No, not at all. Our Ernie is the best there is Dumbledore sir, no need to worry. Anyway, please put your bags over there, and step on board," Stan said, pointing to a rack. "Your luggage will be transported to the top deck shortly. Malfoy strode past Hermione, dumped his luggage in the compartment, and then walked onto the bus. Rolling her eyes, Hermione too deposited her suitcase, and she stepped onto the bus. But before Stan could close the doors, Dumbledore stopped him and beckoned Hermione over to him.  
  
"I've sent an owl to the Ministry pardoning your use of magic, since you are underage, but if there's any trouble, just hand whoever is in charge this parchment, and everything will be in order." Hermione took the parchment and tucked it into the front of her robes.  
  
"Thank you Professor," she said, but Dumbledore shook his head.  
  
"No, thank you. For doing all of this. For going," Dumbledore smiled brightly. She returned the grin and clambered back onto the bus. Stan shut the doors, and with a bang, they were off, speeding through across the grounds. Hermione was thrown off her feet as the bus took flight, but a pair of strong arms behind her caught her. She felt her cheeks glow crimson red, and she scrambled out of Malfoy's arms, scowling.  
  
"Watch it Granger," he muttered, walking up the steps to the upper flight of the bus. Hermione followed, not wanting to be left behind. The flight contained twelve orderly arranged beds, which were sent skidding along the floor when the bus took an unexpected turn. There was a small bedside table in one of the corners, and a mirror was adorned on the wall in front of her. Tentatively sat on one of the beds. Malfoy didn't say anything else. He just sat there, looking out the window at the outside world. Although his eyes were fixed on the scenery, he didn't seem to be taking it in. Wondering if he would be up to any conversation, she opened her mouth to speak, but the bus gave another lurch and she braced herself, not wanting to be thrown into his arms again. She exhaled sharply, causing him to look up.  
  
"What is it Granger?" he asked, slightly annoyed, taking his chin off his hand and facing her.  
  
"Look, Draco," Hermione growled, saying his first name as if it were poisonous. "This is stupid. We're going to have to put up with each other for two months, so we might as well make a non-aggression pact now. Otherwise, we'll both be completely miserable. Ok? Set aside the differences, and get along." The main reason he looked up was because she had used his first name. Second of all.well, she had a point.  
  
"Well, I hate to say this, but I'll have to agree with you mud-.I mean.Hermione," he said, saying her name with tremendous difficulty.  
  
"Good. At least we're past the Malfoy Granger stuff. That drove me nuts." She didn't say anything else.  
  
"Bugger. I was just getting used to being called Malfoy too." He gazed back out the window, a confused look on his face. She giggled.  
  
"What?" he asked angrily.  
  
"Nothing, it's just.I've never seen you look so confused before," Hermione giggled again.  
  
"Well I've never seen you giggle," he pointed out sarcastically. "And now that I have I think I'm scarred for life."  
  
Hermione ignored his last comment. "You're right. I know nothing about you at all. All I really know is that you're a conceited, stuck up git," she said. "No offense," she added.  
  
"All I know about you is that you're a brainy bookworm who doesn't have time for anyone but herself, and has to be good at anything," he smirked. "No offense," he mocked.  
  
"Fine. Shall we start with a little background information then?" He rolled his eyes and shrugged, looking out the window again. "I'll take that as a yes. Anyway, I'll start.  
  
"My name is Hermione Granger," (he rolled his eyes here.again) "and I live near Sussex, in a fairly large house with my parents, whom are dentists. I have one cat named Crookshanks, and my favorite subject is Arithmancy." She nodded, a sign for him to tell his story. He rolled his eyes and sighed, looking very shifty.  
  
"My name is Draco Malfoy, and I feel very stupid for saying that, as you already know my name, but anyway, I live somewhere different than you, my father doesn't like revealing things like that. I have a dog named Voldemort and my favorite subject is Arithmancy." She snorted when she heard his dog's name was Voldemort.  
  
"Your dog's name is Voldemort?" she asked, a tone of disbelief in her voice. He rolled his eyes for the millionth time that day.  
  
"Hey, don't go insulting me, my father picked it out."  
  
"What about Arithmancy? I haven't seen you at any of my classes," she asked.  
  
"That's because my classes are at different times you prat."  
  
"Oh.well, I knew that," she muttered, her cheeks turning pink.  
  
"Oh shock. Hermione Granger didn't use her head for approximately 3.75 seconds. That's a new record, I should go tell Potter," he smirked.  
  
"Shut up," she snapped, looking at the wall and staring at an odd painting that reminded Hermione of the work of Picasso, a famous muggle artist. Draco mistook her gaze and believed her to be staring at him.  
  
"What, have you forgotten how unbelievably handsome I am?"  
  
"Get stuffed, I was looking at the painting," she retorted, smiling inwardly at his mistake. Draco turned around to look at the painting and scoffed.  
  
"How attractive."  
  
"It doesn't have to be pretty you know. Sometimes art is meant to make you think," Hermione explained.  
  
"Yeah, it makes me think how lucky I am that I don't look like her." Hermione shook her head and went back to examining the painting.  
  
"You know Granger, I mean mudblo-.Arhh! I mean Hermione! You may be fun to torture but at least you can keep up a good conversation," he said, straining himself to say the words. "At least when you put your books down and talk to someone other than Potty and the Weasel."  
  
"Oh, is that a compliment?" she asked, pretending to be touched. "I never thought in a million years I'd hear something nice from you. Well, if you must know, you may be pathetic but you are very.err, amusing. That is, once you haven't got your cronies Crabbe and Goyle by you, and when you don't smirk. Plus, Crabbe and Goyle make you look puny."  
  
"They do not!" he replied defensively. Hermione smirked.  
  
"You need work on your smirk," he told her.  
  
"And you're a poet and you didn't know it." He glared at her. "You need to learn how to smile Draco. Have you ever truly smiled?"  
  
He squirmed. Hermione giggled. He looks absolutely cute when he does that, she thought. But then she inwardly slapped herself. Get a grip.this is Malfoy, Herm. "Well.maybe once.or twice.why?"  
  
"Well I don't know, it's just I've never seen you smile."  
  
"I smile," he said grumpily.  
  
"Alright then. Let's see it!" she said, drawing her knees to her chest. Malfoy averted his gaze.  
  
"Uhh.I'd rather not."  
  
"Oh Draco!" she burst, clearly aggravated. He cleared his throat.  
  
"Uhh, I don't exactly, uh.smile much because.erm." He stopped here and quickly changed the subject. "Are Potty and the Weasel like you? I mean.once you get to.talk to them without starting World War Three, are they.well, bearable?" he asked, trying to regain his smirk.  
  
"Well, are Crabbe and Goyle really brainless gits or do they just appear that way?" she asked.  
  
"Oh no, they're pathetically stupid all right. If I told them to jump off a cliff they'd probably do it too. But they are useful for scaring people away.and beating them up," Draco added as an afterthought. "Anyway, about Potty and the."  
  
"All right, all right. Enough with the Potty and Weasel stuff. Yes, they're great friends. Ron's got a temper at times, you've probably noticed that.but Harry.he's always so lively and energetic. They're my closest friends, and I'm sure they could be yours if you tried!" Hermione said. "Hint, hint."  
  
"Oh, and what color is the sky in your world?" Hermione glared at him. "Oh, alright, alright. If THEY try, then I'll try," he muttered, folding his arms.  
  
"Draco, if you wouldn't act so childish, you'd see that this stupid war that you and Harry are battling is.well, stupid! Just don't be so conceited and give them a chance. It'll do you good!" she promised. He didn't say anything. Stan appeared at the base of the stairs.  
  
"Your stop is five minutes away!" he yelled up to them. "Just in case you wanted to collect your things!" Hermione looked down the staircase.  
  
"Thank you!" she called to his retreating back.  
  
"Come on," she said, standing up. "Let's get our things like he suggested."  
  
"No problem," Draco said simply. He brought out his wand and said 'Accio'. This was a mistake, as his luggage came flying out of the compartment and knocked him over.  
  
"Oh gosh.are you--," she started, leaning over him.  
  
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," he muttered, his cheeks pink, and she noticed he was actually smiling.  
  
"Draco.you're smiling!" she said, now smiling too. He quickly stopped, looking sheepish and extremely embarrassed.  
  
"Come on," he muttered, making his bags levitate as well. They walked down the stairs after Hermione had gathered her things (the normal way) and the bus skidded to a halt, sending them flying again. Stan opened the doors.  
  
"Thank you for choosing the Knight Bus as your transportation device," Stan grinned. Hermione began to take out some sickles, but he stopped her.  
  
"Dumbledore paid for this in advance," he said, with a wink and a smile.  
  
"Thank you!" she called after him, as Stan shut the doors. Before Hermione had even noticed, the Knight Bus was gone. The storm seemed much fiercer here, and Hermione drew her cloak tighter around herself.  
  
"Where do we go?" she shouted over the thunder.  
  
"I suppose the hotel Dumbledore was talking about.but where is it?" Draco said. He too was shouting.  
  
"Wait! Over there!" she said, pointing in the direction of a large building. The lightning had just flashed, giving them a millisecond glance at their surroundings.  
  
"Come on!" Draco responded. They shielded their eyes from the rain and began walking towards the building. Hermione could make out a few trees here and there, but she couldn't exactly tell exactly what the town looked like, due to the driving rain. People bustled past them, carrying large black umbrellas. Five minutes later, they stood in front of the large, building. Draco quickly opened the doors, and stepped inside, (with Hermione following) glad to be out of the rain. Dripping wet and muddy, they looked odd compared to the elegance of the hotel. The words 'Crystal Suites' were engraved in gold over the entrance. The floor and staircase were done in marble, and two stone pillars guarded the entrance of where they stood. Although there weren't many people there, they were dressed in tuxedos and fine evening gowns. They all examined Draco and Hermione with disgusted looks on their faces. One lady turned to her husband and muttered something about 'muddy kids'.  
  
"It looks like he could give us a room," Hermione said, pointing to a short, bald man behind the counter. They approached the service desk and he glanced up from his paperwork, disgusted with their appearance.  
  
"If you please, sir," Hermione started. Could you give us a room?"  
  
"Well, zat depends.'ow long will you be staying?" he asked, in a strong French accent.  
  
"Two months," Draco responded. That accent was very annoying.  
  
"Are you 'ze two kids Dumbledore waz' talking about?" he asked, his face lighting up. Draco felt a stab of annoyance under his awe at the hotel. They weren't exactly what you would call kids.  
  
"Yes, we are," Hermione responded. If she was annoyed with this man, Draco thought, she didn't show it.  
  
"Excellent. Albus Dumbledore owled us a few days ago with your rezervations, and ze card key is right 'ere," he said, handing it to them. "Ze room number 'iz on ze card, and if assistance 'iz required, just press one of 'ze buttons by 'ze side of 'ze bed or sink." (A/N: Gosh this guy's annoying, isn't he?) "Dinner iz served at six o'clock sharp, and you must be dreesed in.oh let's say more.proper clothes. 'Iz everything understood?"  
  
"Perfectly," Draco responded, seizing Hermione by the upper arm and pulling her away from the desk. Careful to wipe their feet before walking any further, they found the lift.  
  
"Don't know why they have a staircase if they can use the lift," Draco muttered. He pressed the button for the thirtieth floor.  
  
"So what do you make of it?" he drawled.  
  
"It's very large, to have thirty floors," she commented.  
  
"I think I've heard of this hotel. It's an international one, very popular in the wizarding world. Of course I've stayed at finer ones than this lot."  
  
"Well I haven't, and you should have compassion that I'm not used to the elegance you've been exposed to ever since you were born," she exclaimed. He was surprised to hear anger in her voice. The lift buzzed, and the doors opened. They walked until they found room 701. Hermione slipped the card key into the slot, and the door opened. Hermione dropped her bags on Draco's foot when it did. The walls were made of transparent glass, and a door led to a balcony that overlooked the ocean in the distance, but of course, it wasn't visible at the moment because of the storm. The carpet was pure white, and the sheets and curtains were made of silk. A huge four- poster bed stood in the middle of the room, with two other smaller beds on either side.  
  
"This is amazing," Hermione muttered, running a hand over the bed sheets. "I really hope Dumbledore didn't have to pay too much for this. What do you think?" she turned around. Draco had already started unpacking.  
  
"We'd better get everything unpacked. We still have no clue where to go, so we need to be prepared. We're also going to be here for two months," he pointed out.  
  
"Well, yeah I know. But everything is so exciting. The freedom, and the general prospect of being an Auror." Just then, a large barn owl swooped up to the glass and began pecking furiously on the glass. Hermione approached the wall and opened the glass door. Stepping out onto the balcony and trying to stay dry, she grabbed the soaking wet owl and plopped him onto a bed, closing the door firmly behind her. The barn owl began drying his feathers, hopping around the bed and looking at Draco. Hermione spotted a damp piece of parchment on the floor. Picking it up, she used a quick drying spell and began to read.  
  
Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Granger, I hope your room is satisfactory, and that your trip there was a good one. I must ask you to do me another favor. At noon, light the fire in the grate, because I will speak to you by means of this. I have enclosed a map and a list of certain places you will need to be at, and at what time. Other than that, enjoy yourselves! Albus Dumbledore  
  
"Hey look," Hermione said, showing him the letter. "Dumbledore's just sent it." Draco stopped unpacking.  
  
"Here's the list," he said, looking inside the envelope and pulling out a thin piece of parchment. "We don't have to really be anywhere until eight o'clock tonight. It's over here," he said, consulting the map and pointing to a certain spot on it. As he did, the spot became magnified, and they saw a very large building. "It's for some meeting, or so it says."  
  
"At least we're not going to be rushed," she said, unzipping her own suitcase. Draco wandered into the bathroom.  
  
"Hermione!" he called. She walked over to where he stood. The bathroom was separated into two parts. There were two bathtubs, large enough to wade in, two sinks, and two mirrors.  
  
"We'll be sharing a bathroom then," Hermione said, more to herself than to Draco. Then there were the closets. Each had a dresser of drawers, and space to hang up clothes.  
  
"I could get used to this," she said.  
  
"Let's finish unpacking," Draco said.  
  
"Alright, alright. I'll unpack." Hermione opened her suitcase and smiled. Just before she left, Hermione had been experimenting with an anti-wrinkle charm, and now, looking at her clothes, it had worked perfectly, leaving her clothes wrinkle free. She unpacked her socks and scarf, hung up her shirts, jeans, and shorts, and put away her shoes.  
  
"Good thing I brought a dress," Hermione began. He watched as she pulled out an elegant black dress, and he couldn't help but stare.  
  
"You brought.that?" he asked in disbelief, trying to imagine it on Hermione.  
  
"I didn't know if I'd need anything like it," she replied, hanging this up too.  
  
"Never thought you'd be willing to show that much flesh Granger," he smirked.  
  
"I thought we were past the 'Malfoy Granger' stuff," Hermione said, slightly disappointed.  
  
"Ok, no more last names. I'm doomed to a life of firsts." She returned to one of the smaller beds and sat down.  
  
"So now what do we do?" she asked, slightly bored. Draco looked thoughtful for a minute, and then he checked his watch.  
  
"It's 6:30 in the morning, and we don't have anything to do until eight. Dinner's at six, so basically whatever we want." A grin spread across his face. "Now you can think about the freedom!" Hermione rested her eyes and curled up onto the bed. "We could check out the city, or.go to the beach once the storm stops. I'm sure there's plenty of good looking women who'd be dying to get their hands.Hermione?" he asked. "Hermione," he asked again, when she didn't respond. He leaned over and peered over her shoulder. Draco then figured she must be asleep and he didn't disturb her.  
  
***  
  
Hermione awoke with a start, looking around at her surroundings. But she remembered where she was and closed her eyes again. When she heard a door open, however, she opened them. Draco had emerged from the bathroom, dripping wet, and wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. She quickly pretended to be asleep. But pretty soon, she found herself watching him. His hair hung in wet strands around his face, and he brushed them out of the way as he looked for a shirt. Her eyes wandered down to his chest, where she noticed it was chiseled and muscular. Probably from all of the Quidditch.she thought. He lifted his arms over his head and pulled on his shirt. Then he began to remove his towel, and Hermione snapped her eyes shut, her heart pounding. After giving him five minutes, she opened one eye slowly. He was slipping his shoes on, and she lifted her head off of her arms.  
  
"Where are you going?" she asked sleepily.  
  
"Good. You're finally awake. It's ten o'clock Hermione, and I got tired of waiting for you to realize it was morning. Now then, I'm going down for breakfast. Will you join me?"  
  
"Good morning to you too," she replied sleepily, and she slipped her own shoes on. After they had gotten into the lift, Hermione was fully awake.  
  
"I wonder what they serve here for breakfast," she wondered aloud.  
  
"Bacon, eggs, toast, things like that," he replied, making her scowl.  
  
"I figured that." The lift buzzed (A/N: they tend to do that a lot), and Hermione and Draco stepped out into the lobby. People were swarming around the breakfast tables, and a waiting line went all the way up the stairs.  
  
"Good grief, we'll be lucky if any food is left!" Hermione said, standing on her tiptoes to get a better look.  
  
"What do you say to getting out of here and finding a decent restaurant?" Draco asked, as a particularly large woman squeezed past him.  
  
"Are you sure there are any 'decent' ones here?" she asked, still trying to get a look at the food.  
  
"Uh, yeah, remember Dumbledore's map?" he asked, taking the parchment out of his pocket. "It's on here, so it should be close." They stepped outside. Now they had the perfect opportunity to get a look at the town. The rain had left everything wet and muddy, but the sun was shining, and the dew on the leaves was glistening. Hermione sighed happily, and automatically reached out for Draco's hand. But as soon as she had touched his, she jumped. He looked at her strangely.  
  
"I'm sorry," she said quickly, turning beat red. "It's just that.after it rained, my mum would take me outside, and we would go for a walk, holding hands, taking in the scent of the rain. I.just got carried away." He was quiet for a bit, and he didn't say anything for a good while. Hermione figured him to be thinking her stupid, but she was surprised when he started to speak.  
  
"I.wish my mother did that," he said slowly and quietly. "She loves me a great deal, but she just.well, my father doesn't want her to baby me too much. So he normally keeps our visits limited." She looked up at him, her face full of concern. He looked away from her. They walked in silence for a few minutes before Hermione felt Draco's hand graze against hers. She hid a smile and quickly looked away. After walking for about five minutes, they reached a restaurant. The doors were made of marble and glass, and neatly tended flower beds were beside the doors. Hermione wondered how people could afford to dine like this so often, in such a nice restaurant, and she felt strange walking inside the restaurant with Draco, who had been living like this ever since he could remember. Nevertheless, she was still glad to have him there with her.  
  
The restaurant was nearly empty and there wasn't a waiting line, so a waiter was able to help them right away. An elderly man emerged from the kitchens.  
  
"Two?" he asked, drying his hands on a towel. Hermione and Draco both nodded. He picked out two menus and led them past great water fountains, large and elegant rooms, and then to a booth.  
  
"I'll have someone come over here in just a minute," he smiled, taking out straws and napkins and setting them in front of Draco and Hermione. A bell sounded in the distance and he hurried off. Draco sat down, but Hermione remained standing.  
  
"I think I'll just run to the bathroom really quick," Hermione told him. Draco nodded.  
  
"What do you want to drink though?" he called after her. She turned around, pondering the question.  
  
"What do they have?"  
  
Draco picked up a menu and flipped to a long list of drinks. "There's soda, tea, juices, wines, shakes--."  
  
"Tea would be nice," Hermione said.  
  
"What kind? They have peppermint, cinnamon, apple, cranberry, strawberry, jasmine--."  
  
"Woah. Umm, a jasmine tea will do." She disappeared behind the door. Draco drummed his fingers on the table and let himself sink into his thoughts. Just a couple of hours ago, he had been dreading spending two months with Hermione.yet now.he couldn't quite understand why, but.he was enjoying her company. A tap on his shoulder brought him back to reality. He turned around and saw a waitress ready to take his order.  
  
"Would you like to start with drinks?" she asked, a pen and notepad in her hand.  
  
"I'll have a jasmine tea for my friend," he paused there. Friend? Somehow the word sounded.good. "And a water, thanks," he finished. Hermione had just finished in the bathroom as the waitress walked away.  
  
"I look horrible," she said, as she sat down, trying to flatten her bushy hair. She brought out a small mirror. Draco opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it.  
  
"Go on, say it," she replied distractedly.  
  
"All right, you look horrible." She snapped the mirror shut and glared.  
  
"Isn't this place lovely?" she asked, admiring the wallpaper. Draco looked around and shrugged, with an 'I've-seen-better-so-haha' look on his face. The waitress returned with the drinks.  
  
"Here's a water for you sir," she said, flashing Draco a smile. "And a jasmine tea for your girlfriend.  
  
"I'm not his girlfriend."  
  
"She's not my girlfriend." Draco and Hermione looked at each other quickly and then they looked away.  
  
"Oh! I'm sorry, my mistake! It's just that you two looked so cute together," the waitress said happily, not really looking sorry and casting Draco a flirty look. He looked at her in disgust.  
  
"I'll let you decide on your order and I'll be back in a few," she hurried away, turning red.  
  
"God that was embarrassing," Hermione muttered, hiding her face in her hands.  
  
"Yeah, I know," said Draco, because a few people were starting to stare. He cleared his throat loudly and they all looked away. Hermione took one of her spoons and stirred her tea.  
  
"Perhaps we should order now?"  
  
"Oh yes." She opened her menu, took one look at the prices, and slammed it shut again.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked, lowering his own menu.  
  
"Well.these are.expensive," she muttered, her ears pink.  
  
"That's no problem," Draco replied, lazily waving his hand. "This is nothing compared to the meals I had when I was on holiday in France. You should see their prices."  
  
"I've been to France before," she explained. "But you were probably in the upper class division or something." She smiled, almost as if she was embarrassed.  
  
"The what? You know what, I really don't want to know anyway. Just get what you want and we'll worry about it later."  
  
"If you say so," Hermione said, taking up her menu again. The waitress returned.  
  
"Have you had plenty of time?" she asked. Hermione bit her lip and flipped through the menu before speaking.  
  
"A number three please," she asked politely.  
  
"And for you.sir," she said, her face breaking into a huge grin. Hermione rolled her eyes.  
  
"Number four," he said, returning the smile sarcastically. The waitress blushed and she quickly took their menus away and walked back to the kitchens.  
  
"She seems quite taken with you," Hermione said in a sly voice.  
  
"I don't blame her. I have natural charms that automatically attract women, even when I'm not trying. I'm surprised you haven't fallen head- over-heels yet," he smirked. Hermione seized his glass of water furiously and dumped it over his head. Draco sputtered in surprise, cursing.  
  
"What did you do that for?" he cried, taking his wand out and drying his clothes instantly with a spell.  
  
"You deserved it. I hate it when you tease me like that!" she scowled.  
  
"But that was uncalled for!" he said, trying to dry his hair, but he gave up and slammed his wand on the table. But she didn't have time to argue because the waitress had returned with their plates. She set hers down in front of Draco, but she leaned over a bit farther than necessary, brushing against Draco. He shot Hermione an exasperated look when she had turned away to collect Hermione's plate.  
  
"Alright then, please enjoy!" She trudged off, looking back to see if Draco was watching her.  
  
"I told you," he said, as he picked up his fork. "It's not my fault."  
  
"You didn't exactly protest when she leaned in front of you," Hermione commented.  
  
"What was I supposed to do, shove her and say 'Get away you wench'?"  
  
"Well, no," Hermione stuttered. "Listen, just forget about it."  
  
"Whatever you say," he said, digging in to his eggs. Hermione took a bite of her own.  
  
"What do you think we're supposed to do tonight?" she wondered, picking up the map and looking at the location of the building. Draco shrugged.  
  
"I have no clue. A test? Maybe we have to give a speech of some sort. Who knows? We'll just have to wait and see." She watched him lower his gaze and poke his eggs with his fork, not really paying attention to what he was doing. Hermione was about to say something, when she noticed multiple scars on his wrist. She tried to get a better look but he had put his hand in his lap, eating with his other hand. He seemed to be thinking, so she didn't comment on this.  
  
"Soooo?" he asked slowly. "How does it taste?"  
  
"Excellent," she smiled. And to her surprise, he actually smiled back, a smile that lit up his entire face, making his normally cold, dull gray eyes come alive to a sparkling soft summer rain color. His face was no longer pale, but warm and glowing. She stared at him and he noticed this.  
  
"What?" he asked. I told you I smiled." Hermione hid a smile to herself.  
  
"Now," she said, through a mouthful of bacon. "Tell me more about yourself. Hobbies and pet names are fine, but a little more in depth this time. Tell me about your family!" she suggested.  
  
"How about no?" he replied. But seeing the look on her face, he sighed.  
  
"Do I have to?" Draco pleaded. She nodded. "Fine, fine. Well, let me see. My family lives in this huge estate, off somewhere in the moors. I really don't know the exact location, but anyway. It has thirty-two bedrooms," (Hermione choked) "and plenty of running space."  
  
"Thirty-two bedrooms?" she asked in disbelief.  
  
"Don't look so shocked. My father grew up in a fifty-five bedroom house." Hermione nearly dropped her fork. "As for my parents." he paused here. "My father hates me, but my mother loves me. No, she adores me. At home, she calls me." he stopped again.  
  
"What?" she asked.  
  
"Never mind." He grew very red and Hermione had to bite her cheeks to keep from laughing.  
  
"It's ok. At home, I'm.well let's just say I've got a few nicknames," she grinned.  
  
"Tell me about your home," he said, leaning back. She grew red.  
  
"I don't really know."  
  
"Come on," he said. "I told you mine."  
  
"Alright fine. Both of my parents are dentists."  
  
"What?" Malfoy asked, his face screwing up. "Dentists?"  
  
"They care for your teeth," she explained. Draco still looked skeptical.  
  
"Anyway. They're both dentists, and umm, they're both Muggles." she said, saying Muggles very quietly. Draco waved his hand, a sign for her to continue.  
  
"But they're really nice. When my dad's not at the office, we're always working on his old car. He's always saying that if he weren't a dentist, he'd love to be a mechanic. My mum is always baking. She loves baking. There's always fresh bread, bagels for breakfast, rolls for dinner, and she even makes cakes, which surprises me as she's a dentist." She stopped talking. Draco had a strange expression on his face. After a moment, he spoke.  
  
"You should feel very lucky," he said slowly and quietly, keeping his gaze firmly fixed on the window. Hermione bit her lip.  
  
"I do feel very lucky. I've got great parents." Hermione thought she saw tears in Draco's eyes, but she was distracted from this when the waitress came back.  
  
"Alright then, have a nice day!" she said.  
  
"But what about the check?" Draco asked.  
  
"Lunch was on me for you cutie," she said slyly. Draco cleared his throat quickly.  
  
"Well, erm, thanks for the free lunch," he said quickly, standing up and grabbing Hermione's arm. They exited the restaurant quickly, and Hermione burst out laughing when they had gotten outside.  
  
"She REALLY fancies you Draco!" she said, in-between giggles. "You'd better see her sometime otherwise she'll sue you for not paying and for ignoring her obvious attempts to catch you."  
  
"We'll see about that," Draco replied. "I'm going to go for a look around town. Would you rather go back up to the hotel?"  
  
Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment as she gazed at the flowers outside the restaurant.  
  
"No, I think I'll come with you," Hermione replied.  
  
"Alright then."  
  
***  
  
A/N: Aww, Draco smiled! ^^ You all knew he'd be lightening up. Or maybe he's not. Anyway, (clears throat quickly) In chapter 2, look for the special meeting that Dumbledore was talking about, Draco falls asleep, and a bunch of other things that make chapter 2 special. Oh, and I also need to thank my FABULOUS beta!!! Imbrium Iridum!!!! She helped me greatly! I swear, this first chapter used to be three pages long. Hehehe... Speaking of, this is my first schnoogle fic, so my apologies if it moves too slow/fast. ^^ Thanks!  
  
And a big thanks to people who reviewed this chapter before I edited it:  
  
Lillian I'm touched you think so :D Draco'sGurl yeah, it is a Draco/Hermione and a Harry/Hermione. I'm playing with the ships *grin* albusdumbledoreIII yeah I like H/H but I'm a converted D/Hr Tamz: Draco doesn't like smiling because he needs to keep up the rough, gruff image of himself. Yeah I should have made elevator 'lift', which I did in this chapter, by the way (the newly revised one) ClairvoyantSnake Ooh, taking it slow is my biggest problem. I gotta spice it up and make it huge. The unedited version of this was five or six pages, and just by adding descriptions and more dialogue, it turned out to be thirteen. It's a start! Oh, and I might let Hermione take a peek.who knows. Unregistered I'm working as fast as I can Teaspoon of Mel Aww, thank you! Eowynangel Yeah, we'll have to see about ships. Hermione loves Harry already, but there's always Draco..  
  
  
  
The Makings of an Auror Chapter 2  
  
Dedicated to Imbri, my beta.as usual :D  
  
By the time Hermione and Draco reached the hotel, it was rapidly approaching noon. Remembering Dumbledore's owl, Draco lit the fire in the grate and sat on one of the beds, waiting. The next couple of minutes snailed by, but at last, they heard a small and distinct *pop*. Dumbledore's head appeared in the fire, smiling warmly at them.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Granger," he said, nodding to both of them. "I can't talk long, as I'm in the middle of a meeting with some old friends of mine. I just wanted to tell you a few things. Tonight, as you may know, a meeting will take place. You will be introduced to a few staff members of the camp, and you may have to say a few things about yourself, just to give them a good idea of what you're made of. This is also to get you comfortable with the instructors before you begin your training. Tomorrow will be a very exciting day."  
  
"Headmaster?" Hermione asked, resting her head on her hands. "I don't quite understand." The sound of a muffled snort was heard in the direction of Draco. Hermione ignored him. "Why-"  
  
But the sound of a door opening was heard, and Dumbledore turned his head around. He spoke to someone for a few minutes before he turned around and faced them again.  
  
"I must go. This meeting cannot wait any longer. I'm sure you will do perfectly fine, Ms. Granger," he assured her, as her face formed into an expression of confusion. 'I will be sending owls regularly to see how you are progressing. Ta-ta!" And with another small *pop*, his head vanished.  
  
"What are we supposed to do tomorrow!?" Hermione said, in a frustrating voice. "I just can't help wonder."  
  
"Well that's your problem, not mine."  
  
"Oh come off it Draco. You have to be slightly curious about tomorrow. If you're so amiable what do you think about tomorrow?"  
  
"Probably lots of tests," Draco commented.  
  
"Possibly an IQ test?" she wondered.  
  
"IQ?" Draco asked.  
  
"It's a muggle thing," she responded.  
  
The day went by slower than those ten minutes had, and Draco and Hermione basically didn't talk much to each other. Hermione had brought every book she owned, (or at least it appeared that way to Draco) and Draco seemed to have only brought his Arithmancy book. Hermione sat reading for a good few hours, pausing every now and then to make a quick note. Draco spoke for the first time in hours.  
  
"What are you reading? Just asking out of plain curiosity," he asked. Hermione looked up, her face beet red, and she scrambled to hide a parchment.  
  
"Numerology and Gramatica. I figure I should keep up the studying. We might have exams when we get back."  
  
"Oh, I see. And Potter doesn't happen to be in those exams, does he?" Draco asked suddenly. Hermione turned redder, if possible.  
  
"I.what-"  
  
"Because why else would you be reading, secretly concealed behind your Gramatica book, Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century?"  
  
Hermione opened her mouth but furiously closed it again. Draco smirked.  
  
"Alright fine, I was trying to write a letter to Harry. But how did you know that Harry was in these books?" Hermione challenged. A tinge of pink appeared in Draco's normally pale cheeks.  
  
"There.well-"  
  
"Save it Malfoy." And she went back to reading.  
  
***  
  
It was nearly five o'clock when she stopped. She stood up, stretched, and gathered her books, parchment, inkbottle, and quill and put them in her bedside table drawer. S  
  
"Draco?" she asked, walking slowly to his bed. Draco had fallen asleep, his Arithmancy book lying open on his chest, which was rising and falling gently in rhythm to his breathing. She lifted the book carefully off of his chest and closed it quietly, with a small smile on her face, and then, she reached out and brushed a strand of hair that had fallen into his face. However, as soon as her fingertips made contact with his skin, his hand immediately shot out and grabbed her wrist, his eyes snapping open, giving her a confused look. Hermione started. No.she lost it.  
  
"I'm sorry!" she said quickly, standing up as soon as he had released her wrist. She began pacing the room. "I didn't mean to scare you, not that I did if I didn't.I mean.I was just.OH! Dinner starts in an hour and I thought I should let you know. She stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door and locking it, leaving a puzzled Draco behind.  
  
Why did I do that.she thought, rubbing her temples in frustration. But why am I getting so worked up? I mean, it's just Draco. Just Draco. Something about that clicked in her mind. But she ignored it and splashed cold water on her face, taking a deep, calm, steadying breath. She took her black dress out of the closet and began to change for tonight.  
  
***  
  
She sure gets worked up easily, Draco thought, as he preformed a charm to give him privacy to change into his dinner suit (Hermione had locked the main bathroom door, meaning he couldn't get to his personal bathroom). It was almost as if.nah, it couldn't be. I just startled her. But how was I supposed to know my reflexes would kick in and scare the hell out of her? He changed into a crisp black dinner jacket, complete with matching pants and shiny black shoes (Draco likes Black). When he had finished changing, he put his book away, sat on his bed, and waited for Hermione to come out. He knew very well, with plenty of experience with his mother, that women took a very long time getting ready, so he wasn't expecting her to get out anytime soon. Humming to himself, he thought of what had happened during the day. Thirty minutes passed, and he began to get a little antsy about leaving. He stood up, walked over to the bathroom door, and lightly tapped on it. No sooner than had he done this, Hermione opened the door. Draco's jaw dropped. Hermione was wearing the black dress she had shown him earlier, and it was definitely perfect for her. Fitted in all the right places too.he thought, with a mental smirk. The dress stopped just above her knees, and she was wearing black high-heels. Her hair was sleek and shiny, and glancing past her for a moment, he saw a bottle of Sleazky's gel lying on the countertop. She had even used a bit of makeup too. He stood there, gaping at her. But he quickly regained his cool.  
  
"Well Hermione. Nobody would have known under those baggy robes," Draco smirked, eyeing her figure once more. Hermione's face turned purple and she whipped around and grabbed her purse off the bed. "Hey! That was supposed to be a complement!"  
  
"Nice try."  
  
"No, I'm serious!" Draco said, following her. Hermione stopped abruptly.  
  
"Really?" she asked, a hint of doubt in her voice.  
  
"Hell yeah! Umm, I mean, yes, you look good," he replied quickly, seeing her glare at him. But a small smile crossed her face, and she turned away before her grin got any bigger.  
  
"Shall we go downstairs?" he asked quickly, desperate to change the subject.  
  
"Well we have to, don't we?" Hermione replied. Draco and Hermione used the lift to get down to the first floor, and then followed the signs that pointed in the direction of the dinner hall. They finally came to a door with the words.well, what else, Dinner Hall stamped across the front. Opening it slowly, Draco peeked inside. People were talking happily amongst themselves, all of whom were dressed, fit for a party. An orchestra was playing classical music Draco recognized as Beethoven, and a few people were dancing. This is definitely an upper class hotel, he thought. He opened the door to let Hermione in, and she grinned at him as she noticed the elegance of the room.  
  
"Are you waiting for a table?" a man hurriedly asked.  
  
"Well we just arrived, and--,"  
  
"Say no more," he smiled, and he led them to a table right next to a window. The area was dimly lit, and the scenery outside the window was spectacular.  
  
"I just finished clearing this one," he said, as Hermione and Draco sat down. He pulled two menus from his apron. "My name is Bill, so if you ever need anything, just call me.  
  
"We have a special today, for a dish for two of Fugu, and you get a bowl of soup and a salad bar with it." Hermione remembered reading somewhere that Fugu was a Japanese dish, made from the poisonous puffer fish. If it wasn't prepared and cooked properly, the poison of the puffer fish would kill anyone who ate it.  
  
"Excuse me sir, but isn't that dish very.dangerous?" Hermione asked. The waiter smiled kindly.  
  
"We use magic dear-we don't cook it the muggle way." Hermione turned bright red (A/N: she blushes too much) and busied herself with something she had dropped onto the floor.  
  
"We'll get that then," Draco said. The waiter wrote down the order.  
  
"And to drink, sir?"  
  
"A martini, shaken, not stirred." Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but the waiter interrupted her.  
  
"And for your girlfriend?"  
  
"I'm not his girlfriend!" she cried out, in an exasperated voice. Draco coughed.  
  
"Oh, sorry miss, my mistake. Easy to make of course, as you both look divinely splendid.oh erm, never mind," he said, noticing the panicked look on Hermione's face.  
  
"A water, no ice please," she said, lowering her face into her hands.  
  
"I'll be done in just a bit," he said, tapping his nose and striding off.  
  
"That's the second time someone's thought that.we're.you know," she began.  
  
"What, together?" he asked. She cringed. "You can't even say it," he said, with a small laugh. "I think that's saying something," he said cheerfully. Hermione lifted her face from her hands.  
  
"What is that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Inside joke, nothing more," Draco commented innocently.  
  
"Oh and about the martini," she said, a serious look on her face. "You're seventeen. You're not supposed to drink."  
  
"So? I can pass for twenty though," he said simply. Hermione scowled.  
  
The orchestra had picked up a fairly fast tune, and many people started to get up and dance. Please don't ask me, please don't ask me, she thought.  
  
"Do you want--,"  
  
"No," Hermione replied firmly, her heart sinking.  
  
Draco rolled his eyes and picked up a fork. "You have no idea of what I was about to say. It's not like I was going to ask you to dance or anything," he smirked. Hermione opened her mouth but quickly shut it, a furious look on her face.  
  
The waiter came and set their drinks in front of them.  
  
"The food's just about ready."  
  
"Thank you Bill," Hermione said, and he walked away. Hermione stared at the tablecloth for a minute before speaking.  
  
"My, you're very talkative tonight Draco!" she said, in mock happiness. He glared at her again.  
  
"I'm thinking," was his short and bitter reply.  
  
"About what?" she asked innocently, looking up at him through her eyelashes. She knew this would annoy him.  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"How can you be thinking about nothing? Pray tell," she smirked again.  
  
"People can think of nothing you know. You just sit there, your mind blank, and the world disappears before you," he explained.  
  
"Well you can at least be polite about it. You, going around, acting all moody and depressed," she said grumpily, opening her purse with a snap and bringing out a small, pocket sized book. Flipping through the pages, she took out her bookmark and began to read.  
  
"Can you do nothing but read?" Draco asked, a look of disbelief on his face."  
  
"Can you do nothing but think about nothing?" she mocked. Draco rolled his eyes.  
  
"Well at least you can inform me on what you're reading."  
  
"Fine. I'm reading Pride and Prejudice. I doubt you've read it," she said, lowering the book to gaze at him. "It's a muggle classic."  
  
"Nah, what the heck is that guys name again? Mr. Darky or something? He's just too insufferable." He winked at her and Hermione lowered her book again, mouth open.  
  
"You have read it!" she cried out happily.  
  
"Oh well spotted," he scoffed, taking a sip of his 'shaken, not stirred' martini. She moved the book aside and leaned closer to him.  
  
"Why have you read it? I need to know."  
  
"That's because you're an insufferable know-it-all."  
  
"You sure like the word insufferable don't you?" Hermione commented.  
  
"Alright, alright. If you must know, my father made me read it. He thought it'd come in handy for the future, to have a wide knowledge of things. It's a sappy love story if you ask me, and not at all my type. I could really care less about it. Muggle literature is sometimes just poorly written at times. You forget how little they know about the wizarding world. And why would I care about muggle literature anyway? Unless I plan on being a librarian, I doubt it'll help any."  
  
"Draco.you just need to lighten up, you know that? It won't hurt to say a kind word to someone once in a while."  
  
"I know it wouldn't hurt. Maybe it's just not who I am," Draco replied harshly. Hermione simply put her book away and kept her gaze fixed on the tablecloth. She looked up when Bill arrived with their food. Hermione watched as he set a big plate of odd-looking things in front of her. The only thing she recognized was the salad.but even that had weird a weird assortment of things in it.  
  
"Thank you," Draco said shortly, as he walked away. He began eating the food, but Hermione didn't touch hers.  
  
"This looks.good," she said uncertainly, eyeing the disk with uneasiness.  
  
"Well if you're not going to eat it, that's a big waste of money," Draco scoffed, stuffing his mouth with fish. Hermione shot him a look of daggers and slowly picked up her knife and cut off a little piece of the food. Then, she slowly popped it into her mouth, letting the flavor sink in. She then cut off another piece and ate that, and pretty soon, Draco had to stop her from inhaling her food.  
  
"Easy! Easy!" Draco said, as she scrambled to eat more. "We've got all night!"  
  
"Actually, we don't," Hermione said, shoving more food into her mouth. "It's nearly 7:15!"  
  
"We still have forty-five minutes left," Draco assured her, but Hermione held up a hand to stop him as she ate more.  
  
"We still need to find this place where the meeting is," Hermione said. "And," she continued. "We need to figure out where we are supposed to go from there." Draco suddenly looked panicked.  
  
"I didn't think about that," Draco replied, shoveling food in his mouth too.  
  
"That much," Hermione said, "was obvious." Many people stopped talking and were staring at Draco and Hermione, who were eating as if the world were about to end.  
  
"We're going to be late for a meeting," he explained, and they all replied 'OH!' as if this was common, and went back to eating.  
  
***  
  
"Oh.I hope we're not late," Hermione muttered nervously, running out of the hotel with Draco.  
  
"Check your watch," he replied quickly.  
  
"I already did."  
  
"And?"  
  
"It stopped."  
  
"Great." Draco fumbled for the piece of parchment in his back pocket and drew it out, examining it. He took a look at where they were, looked back on the map again, and began running faster.  
  
"How far is it?" Hermione asked. "Wait, don't answer that." They finally had arrived at the building, which was very large. Hermione wondered how she didn't see it in the distance.but then she remembered it was protected with magic so muggles couldn't see it. She leaned against the building, clutching a stitch in her side, and Draco was doubled over, trying to catch his breath.  
  
"That was one hell of a run," he grinned, and Hermione slapped his arm playfully, still massaging her side. "You know Hermione, you can run pretty fast. You nearly out lapped me."  
  
"Yeah, that's what everyone says." Clearing her throat, Hermione straightened up.  
  
"We should probably get inside, don't you reckon?" Hermione asked, smoothing her hair and hoping she didn't look disgraceful. Hermione opened the door slowly, expecting to see more marble and silk. But instead, she saw a single desk, standing in the middle of the room. There were no other doors, the walls were a plain off-white color, and a secretary was filing papers. Draco cautiously approached the counter.  
  
"Excuse us, but we're here for the meeting. It is here, isn't it?" he asked, looking around carefully. The secretary grinned at Draco specifically, and she quickly spun around to a clipboard.  
  
"Yes, the meeting will start in just a few minutes. Name?" she asked sweetly.  
  
"Malfoy, Draco Malfoy," he replied. She wrote it down quickly.  
  
"The room-,"  
  
"Umm, this here's Hermione Granger," he said, pointing to Hermione. The secretary scowled and jotted down her name too.  
  
"If you look over there," the secretary said, pointing to a door Draco was sure hadn't been there a minute before, "and take the third corridor on your left, second on your right, and then fifth door on your left, you'll find the conference room. You can have a seat."  
  
"Err, thank you," Hermione responded, and she followed Draco through the door.  
  
The door led them not into another plain hallway, but a stonewall corridor lit by torches. Draco felt Hermione shudder next to him as the path before them gradually sloped with each step. After taking a few turns and getting lost twice, they came to a door labeled 'Conference Room'. Draco pushed it open and allowed Hermione to walk in before him, before entering himself. There was a long table in the center of the room that could have seated at least thirty people, and all of the chairs were empty. Bookshelves lined the room with books such as 'An Aurors Guide to a Painless Death' and 'Ways to Distract a Death Eater Without Getting your Bloody Head Chopped Off'. Hermione took a seat down near the end of the table next to Draco, and then she leaned over and whispered something in Draco's ear.  
  
"Where is everyone?" she asked quietly, glancing nervously about the room, trying not to look at the paintings on the wall, which depicted bloody battle scenes involving Aurors and Voldemort.  
  
"I don't know, but they'll be here." He tried to use his usual drawling voice, but even he found that his throat had constricted, his palms had gone sweaty, and that he jumped at the slightest movement.  
  
"Dumbledore wouldn't have sent us here if he thought we couldn't handle it.would he?" Hermione asked nervously.  
  
"Look, just chill. You know he wouldn't do something like that."  
  
"Well, I know, but perhaps he underestimated our strength?"  
  
"Correction. Your strength. I'm not the one gripping people's legs very, very hard," Draco grimaced. Hermione looked down and realized she was squeezing his leg so hard, her knuckles had gone white.  
  
"Oh my gosh," she said quickly, withdrawing her hand. "I'm sorry."  
  
He began to reply but was cut off when the door opened. A large group of people emerged and they all took a seat, looking very professional and strict. Most of them were holding a clipboard and a pen, and they would glance up at Hermione and Draco and then write something down. Draco could practically feel the heat coming from Hermione's face. No sooner had the people sat down, when they all stood up, Hermione and Draco following their actions. A large door at the very back of the room and an elderly man stepped out. The people remained respectively silent as he made his way to the front of the table. He smiled at them all and then sat down. Everyone else sat down, and Draco and Hermione followed suit.again.  
  
"Welcome to the first Auror Board Meeting of the year. I'm glad to see all of you made it," he smiled warmly. "My name is Mr. Abbot, and I am head of this board." Many people nodded knowingly. "Now most of you have noticed we have two young guests here tonight." Everyone turned to look at Draco and Hermione, and then back to Mr. Abbott. "But we'll talk more about them later. We'll start by introducing ourselves and tell us a little of what you currently are working on. Perhaps you should start Arabella," he said kindly, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder next to him. Holding her head high, the woman stood up.  
  
"Mrs. Arabella Fig," she said, a smug smile on her face. Hermione's head jerked up. "I work in the Department of Security, and I am assigned to gathering information on the Death Eaters. This year I've been working on a subject with the Unspeakables. " Everyone looked impressed or scared. "Just recently, we have discovered information that led us to believe that Voldemort would attack Hogwarts. However, things are a bit fuzzy around the edges. There is a ninety percent chance that by February, Hogwarts would no longer be a school used in educating talented young witches and wizards to learn to master their magic, but a training school for the Dark Arts." Nearly everyone grew shifty, but Arabella took no notice of this. "Currently, our top five Aurors in the field of Undercover Work have gone to Voldemort in disguise in hope of retrieving information on the subject. I do say we'll need to give them the best of luck, and to keep them in thought over the next couple of months. Thank you." Hermione clapped along with everyone else as Mrs. Fig took a seat. She also briefly recalled Harry talking about where he used to spend some of his summer when the Dursley's went out for a vacation, but Hermione couldn't remember if it was Mrs. Fig, or Mrs. Fir. Shrugging mentally, she watched as the man next to Mrs. Fig, who looked a lot like Peter Pettigrew, squirmed in his seat.  
  
"I am Mark Pettigrew, and I work with the Department of Criminals and Convicts. I'm sure most of you remember that in 1978 the Dementors turned against the Ministry and set the prisoners of Azkaban free. I was fresh out of Hogwarts, just starting my Auror training when I got called out to restrain the Dementors." A blank look came across his face as he continued. "Eventually everything was under control. The prisoners didn't get very far as Azkaban is located on an island out on the (look this up)." Mr. Pettigrew looked up at Mr. Abbott, who waved a hand to continue. "Anyway, speaking currently, Sirius Black has been removed of all charges when a sighting of the 'rumored-to-be-dead' Peter Pettigrew turned the wizarding world into an uproar. Most were a little disinclined to let Black free. My belief on the subject is that Pettigrew was working for Voldemort when Black demanded that the Potter's should let Pettigrew be their Secret Keeper. Thus leading to the.incident." He abruptly sat down and rested his head on his hand, a troubled look on his face.  
  
"Blaire Heathcliff, worker for the Department of Spells, Curses, and Hexes. I helped create some of the spells you may know as Iridisum, the Memory Spell, and Exclavoyant, a spell used for diminishing large objects, quite similar to Reducio but different in many ways. We've found a shred of evidence that might allow us to create a shield against the Avada Kedavra curse. But every time we come close to completing one, something in the material Thalonite draws in the curse, sealing it there for a period of time. The last step to officially completing it is to find the missing material and combine it with the Thalonite. But, as we have limited sources to Thalonite, time can't be wasted."  
  
"Susan Marcus, specializing in the field of Aurors. I contributed to the defeat of the dark wizard Mordecai. I've been an Auror for seven years now, and am currently working on project Voldenumus, involving the gathering of information on Voldemort's closest Death Eaters. Remarkable is hardly the word I'd use to describe my field of work and study."  
  
This continued around the table until everyone had spoken. The man next to Hermione had just finished talking, and he nudged her to speak. She unclenched her teeth, cleared her throat, and spoke in a confident voice.  
  
"My name is Hermione Granger and I am in my seventh and last year at Hogwarts. I am Head Girl, and received a total of 40 O.W.L.S last year. Arithmancy and Transfiguration have always been my strong points, and when you look at my records for grades, I have gotten nothing but top grades." Her voice suddenly changed. "I also finished the entirety of the Hogwarts library, and am very proud of myself for doing so. Did I mention-,"  
  
"OK Hermione, you can stop now," Draco mumbled. A few people chuckled good- naturedly. "I'm Draco Malfoy and also am in my seventh year at Hogwarts. I'm Head Boy, umm, Quidditch captain for Slytherin, and--." A few people stared at him quizzically. "What?" he protested, folding his arms. "I am!" Mr. Abbott coughed at the front of the table and everyone turned to look at him. He smiled.  
  
"Now you may be wondering why we have such young guests here with us tonight," he began, holding out a hand and indicating Hermione and Draco. "These two students will become the youngest Aurors the history of the wizarding world has seen." Everyone present stood up and began clapping. Mr. Abbott paused and held up another hand to silence them. "Tomorrow, you will be going through one of the hardest training courses we have to offer. Please be prepared. No jewelry," Mr. Abbott said, looking particularly at Hermione. "Nothing that can burden you during the many drills and tests you will take." Hermione cast Draco a nervous look, but he didn't return it and kept his gaze firmly fixed on Mr. Abbott.  
  
"Tomorrow, you will come equipped with nothing but your wand, and wear tight fitting clothes. Do you have any questions?" Mr. Abbott finished. Draco and Hermione shook their heads.  
  
***  
  
As soon as the introductions had been completed, they went into a long discussion of the Ministry of Magic. Draco and Hermione weren't mentioned any more throughout the meeting. It was nearly 2:00 A.M. before the meeting was even finished. Hermione felt a nudge in her ribs and she jumped out of her chair, rubbing her eyes sleepily.  
  
"What happened?" she murmured. Draco was standing over her, looking tired but alert.  
  
"You fell asleep."  
  
"I WHAT?" Hermione shrieked, straightening up in her chair, her hair back to it's original bushy state.  
  
"Fell asleep," Draco repeated. "Everyone left a couple of minutes ago. They didn't want to disturb you."  
  
"Oh my gosh." Hermione muttered, hiding her face in her hands. "Now they're going to think I'm.I don't know, a slacker or something."  
  
"They did find out that you snore, but I don't believe they think any less of you. They looked at our records, talked about some very boring things, and then just sort of, left." Draco watched her furiously stand up and grab her purse. Hermione stomped through the door and walked out into the night, drawing her jacket around herself. He followed, narrowly escaping the secretary in the front room.  
  
"They didn't talk about anything important," Draco explained, trying to reassure her but failing miserably. "Just some stuff about.things."  
  
"But I missed it! Those meetings are very important and top secret! I'm just.angry." Draco didn't reply. After a few minutes of walking, Hermione came to an abrupt halt.  
  
"What about that Mark Pettigrew guy? He seems awfully familiar." she said slowly. Draco looked at her curiously.  
  
"How so? You know him?"  
  
"Well, not really but.. all right, can I tell you something important?" Hermione asked slowly and carefully, practically miming everything to him. Draco closed his eyes and nodded.  
  
"Do you remember Ron's rat Scabbers?"  
  
"That pathetic thing? Uhh, I mean yeah," Draco nodded.  
  
"Well, it turns out Pettigrew is an unregistered animagi, and that he didn't get murdered by Black, he set the whole thing up. In our third year, Harry, Ron, and I came across Sirius Black near the Whomping Willow.  
  
"I understand Pettigrew framed Black, but what for?"  
  
"He was working for you-know-who," Hermione whispered.  
  
"Who Voldemort?" Draco said loudly, and a few people walking by them glared at him.  
  
"Yes, Voldemort," Hermione replied quietly, grabbing his arm and steering him behind a tree. "That must mean he might now where Pettigrew is hiding, don't you think? He could be a spy!"  
  
"Hermione, you're jumping to conclusions. He might not even be Pettigrew's brother." He could see her brain working, which, at times, wasn't a very good thing.  
  
"Yes, but Pettigrew isn't exactly a common name is it? I mean, what if he is working for you-know-who, and he's been passing information to him about the school. Mr. Abbott and Dumbledore are close friends, I'm sure of it, so they must know something about it!"  
  
"Hermione, be reasonable. We'll just have to wait and see. If Voldemort is indeed planning an attack on the school, we'll catch him when the time comes."  
  
***  
  
Hermione's alarm clock was right on time that morning, and she opened her eyes sleepily. Begging her legs to move, she slid out of bed and staggered over to Draco's bed.  
  
"Draco," she mumbled sleepily. He bolted upright as if he had already been awake. Come to think of it.she thought, taking note of the dark blue circles under his eyes.  
  
"Is it time already?" Draco asked rubbing his eyes.  
  
"Yes, it's just five, we should hurry," Hermione urged him. Draco got out of bed in a very self-composed manner.  
  
"Aren't you even the least bit t-ti-tired?" she yawned, stretching her arms out over her head.  
  
"Oh no, sitting up in bed all night really is quite refreshing, you should try it sometime." Rolling her eyes and shrugging, she hobbled over to the closet. Hermione quickly changed into a pair of stretch pants and then she put on a casual t-shirt She then pulled her hair back and grabbed her wand. It had rained the previous night again, and the steady drip of water outside was strangely audible in the quiet room. Draco sat down on his bed again and drew out the map in his back pocket. Enlarging the area that was indicated in Dumbledore's letter, he frowned.  
  
"That's strange. The building is supposed to be right next to the place we went to last night for the meeting. I don't recall seeing anything else, do you?"  
  
"Come to think of it, I don't. That is odd." She sat down next to him and glanced over his shoulder at the map. "Maybe they have muggle precautions or something," Hermione replied, shrugging and stretching her arms out in front of her.  
  
"Oh well, we'll just have to find out when we get there."  
  
They left the hotel fifteen minutes later, dressed in tight, form fitting clothes and carrying only their wands and the map.  
  
"It's so cold," Hermione shivered, wishing she had brought her cloak.  
  
"Well it is October," Draco reminded her.  
  
"Yeah, well-spotted."  
  
"Hey, you said you were cold."  
  
"And I'm aware of that."  
  
"Shut up Granger."  
  
"Back to the Granger stuff again aren't we?"  
  
"No, you're just ticking me off right now."  
  
"Fine."  
  
When Hermione and Draco finally found the building (it was right next to the building we were at, Hermione pointed out), they were surprised at what they saw. It looked more like a prison than a camp. The walls were made or gray concrete, and metal bars were across the windows and gate. Yelling could be heard on the other side. A muscular wizard was standing at the front gate, holding his wand menacingly.  
  
"Is this--" Draco started, but the wizard suddenly started yelling at them.  
  
"Get back there, go on," he yelled, unlocking the gate and stepping aside so they could get through. Hermione went in first, avoiding Draco's glare. Inside the building, there were cabinets everywhere. Hermione slowly walked past them, grimacing at the horrifying pictures plastered on the walls. It showed the things that Dark Wizards had done to people, and some of them Hermione didn't even want to think about. Draco cleared his throat, the sound magnified from the stonewalls. He began whistling.  
  
"Can you be any louder?"  
  
He looked thoughtful for a minute. He finally answered.  
  
"Yup."  
  
Finally, they reached a door at the end of the hall, and she opened it. It looked more like they worked outside rather than inside. Many wizards were dueling with each other, and some of them were holding orbs in their hands, muttering things until they let out a cry of pain and dropped it, the instructor shaking his head sadly. A muscular looking wizard emerged from another building.  
  
"Hey! You two here for training?" he asked in a gruff voice. Draco nodded slowly.  
  
"Come over here," he said, walking to one of the desks and picking up a clipboard.  
  
"Malfoy? Granger?" he asked. They both nodded.  
  
"Follow me!" he grumbled. He led them to a strange wall sort of thing. Other instructors were leading other groups of people to the wall. When Malfoy and Hermione reached the wall, their instructor went off for a few minutes, and when he returned, a tall, slender, very busty looking woman was walking behind him.  
  
"All right, do we have all five groups?" the male instructor asked, and the female instructor nodded her head. "Today, we're starting off with a bit of practice training. You see that wall? You're going to have to climb it." A few people nervously glanced at each other. The speaker nodded to the female instructor.  
  
"This here is a magically slicked wall. You see that rope up there?" she asked, pointing up at the top of the wall. Hermione looked up, shielding her eyes from the sun. "That rope is going to be your only way of getting up this wall. You will select one person from your group to climb up the wall first, and then that person will help the other two get up. After you have climbed the wall, you will need to crawl through an area where there are dozens of rough-hewn poles. The ground is covered in Nightmare Grass, and you will only be able to get through this part of the course if you choose to ignore it and keep moving. There are booby traps set with various curses, just begging to be set off.unless you're wary. After you have gone through this part of the course, you will take a jog through a field. You must successfully run through while some of our instructors will be firing any and every curse and hex they can think of. There are brief places of shelter that you can use. You will be able to rest there.if you're fast enough to get there in time. Your objective: there is a stand at the end of the field with a bell on it. Be the first group to ring the bell and you're exempt from extra work for the evening. But if you're the last group to get there, there will be extra practice and no dinner. All clear?" Everyone nodded quickly. "Take this time to pick your first climber." Hermione looked at the girl.  
  
"How strong are you?" Hermione whispered anxiously.  
  
"Why does it matter?" she replied, carelessly examining her fingernails.  
  
"In case you haven't noticed, we're in a training camp!" she practically shouted. Hermione frantically began thinking when Draco spoke.  
  
"Let me climb first, since I'm the strongest here. Then I can help you up."  
  
"Yeah that sounds good. What do you think?" The woman was watching Draco and didn't answer.  
  
"Take your positions!" the female instructor shouted. Draco put his wand inside his pocket and stood ready in front of his rope. "Go!" Draco wrapped the rope around one of his hands and began climbing. They weren't kidding when they said this was a magically slicked wall. His feet kept slipping and sliding in all directions, and his palms were starting to get sweaty, despite the chilly air.  
  
"He's hot," the woman commented, watching him make his way up the wall.  
  
"Please spare me," Hermione grumbled.  
  
"Why don't you let me go next? You're taller and look like you weigh more, so we can help you up in the end."  
  
"Sure, whatever," Hermione muttered, watching Draco with a look of fear in her eyes. That wall was awfully high.  
  
He finally reached the top, his hands aching and red from the rope, but he didn't waste any time. He threw the rope down to the ground. The woman immediately began climbing, and she went slightly faster than Draco because he was pulling her up with the rope. Just a few seconds later, they had thrown the rope down to Hermione. She grabbed it quickly, practically running up the wall because Draco was pulling on the rope so hard. Draco pulled Hermione up without any help from the other girl in their team.  
  
"All right?" Draco asked, slightly breathless from exertion. "Come on we need to go," he said quickly. And they began running to the next task. Nightmare Grass.Hermione was desperately trying to remember something that she'd read about it. But she didn't have time. Draco, Hermione, and the woman got down on their hands and knees.  
  
"Just keep moving," Draco yelled. "If you stop, the nightmares will only affect you faster."  
  
Hermione heard Draco's voice but she didn't respond. Pausing for a minute, she tried to stand up, but her shoulder hit one of the sharp poles. She stopped and looked down at her shoulder, oozing blood onto her shirt. The area became foggy and she clutched her head, trying to block out the yelling that was going on in her head. She looked up and gasped.  
  
She, Harry, and Ron stood in the center of the room, wands out, ready to attack if needs be. They were slowly making their way through the house, looking into every room, making sure no one was hiding.  
  
"What's happening?" Hermione asked carefully.  
  
"Hermione? Are you ok? We're trying to find him.remember?" They came to a room, and knew immediately where the intruder was. With a big kick, Ron had the door open and Harry moved inside quickly, telling Hermione to wait outside. She stood outside the door; her breathing paused, completely lost and confused, as she struggled to hear what they were saying.  
  
"It's over Voldemort," she heard Harry say, and she nearly fell over backwards in shock.. "Let the muggle born students go and we'll do what you want." There was a high cold laugh and the sound of somebody standing up.  
  
"It's not over Harry Potter. We still have something to take care of." He snapped his fingers and the door Hermione was peeking through snapped shut. She frantically tried to open it but it was locked, and no Alohamora spell could break it. She heard the angry mutterings of voices, and then she heard something that made her scream.Avada Kedavra. They had done it! Harry and Ron had got Voldemort! She was grinning from ear to ear when the door opened, but then she screamed. Voldemort was standing in the doorway, and behind him, Ron and Harry lay dead.  
  
"Hermione." Voldemort said. Confused, she backed up.  
  
"Hermione," Voldemort repeated. She stumbled across the rug, and then fell to the floor.  
  
"Hermione!" Voldemort shouted, and then he was offering a hand.  
  
Hermione opened her eyes with a start, and she looked around her surroundings. Then everything came flooding back to her.  
  
"Hermione!! Get up, we need to go!" Draco was shouting. She realized that she was no longer in the field of strange grass.  
  
"That nightmare grass affected you big time." The girl almost looked triumphant that she hadn't let it affect her at all. They broke off at a run, and Hermione was still trying to regain her composure. Without a backward glance at the Nightmare Grass, they approached the field. They saw three people streak past them, and with a horrifying wave of panic, Hermione grabbed Draco and the girl's arms and began running as fast as she could. The other group was getting closer, but when they had to stop and duck for shelter, Hermione took this as an advantage.  
  
"Don't stop unless you're hurt!" she yelled back at them. Dodging the hexes and curses that were being thrown at them, Hermione kept going, hardly paying attention to how fast she was running. But she was caught off guard when a high-pitched scream was emitted from the girl in their group. She had been hit by an immobilizing charm.  
  
"Pick her up!" Hermione commanded Draco, and he seized her in his arms and they began running again. Hermione brought out her wand and preformed the counter curse, and she sleepily opened her eyes.  
  
"Put me down!" she shrieked, before she saw who was holding her. "Ahh!" She had caught sight of Draco. "Nevermind, keep me here. Draco dropped her and she cast him a disgruntled look. They were almost there! Just a few more feet.something shot out from the bushes ahead of them. The other team would get there first.  
  
"Come on!" she yelled, trying to run faster. But it was no use. The other team hoisted a member of their group onto the stand and she rang the bell. The bell rang, echoing through the camp. With a cry of happiness, they began cheering. The instructors came over.  
  
"You finished first, meaning you will not have to do any extra exercises today." The female instructor greatly emphasized the word extra.  
  
"Yes we made it!" the other team cried out happily. Hermione sighed.  
  
"What's your name?" she asked the woman.  
  
"Aubrey," the girl replied, looking murderous. "It's Aubrey."  
  
***  
  
Hermione slumped onto her bed, clutching her side.  
  
"I ache all over," she whispered. "It hurts to even speak."  
  
"I know, but we'd better get used to it," Draco said, pulling his robes off. He sank into the large four-poster bed, next to Hermione.  
  
"I really hope things improve by the end of the week," she muttered. But before Draco could respond, Hermione had suddenly cried out in pain, clutching her shoulder.  
  
"What? What is it?" he asked, visibly startled.  
  
"It's my shoulder. When we were in the nightmare grass, I hit it on the poles above us."  
  
"Let me see it," Draco asked.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You heard me."  
  
"Well.alright." She awkwardly pulled down the sleeve of her shirt, baring her shoulder to him and turning her head away.  
  
"Oh man," he muttered.  
  
"How bad is it?"  
  
"Look for yourself." She turned her head slowly and nearly passed out. Her entire arm was sticky with dried blood, and there was a long gash across her shoulder.  
  
"Let me get something for that," Draco said, standing up and going to his suitcase.  
  
"You really don't need to," she muttered sleepily. But he came back carrying a vile.  
  
"I know I don't have to, but how would Dumbledore act if you came back all bloody and scarred?" He took the vile and pulled out the cork, carefully holding it over her shoulder. "Oh, and this might sting a bit." He let the liquid inside the vile drop slowly onto her shoulder, and she cried out.  
  
"What is that stuff?" she shrieked.  
  
"Anti-poison potion. Also prevents infections. It's quite handy at times. And quit moving, I'm getting it all over the bed sheets." She tired to squirm away but his hand shot out and grabbed her arm.  
  
"Geez Granger, for someone so composed you can be so squirrelly."  
  
"You weren't kidding when you said that stuff stings," she replied defensively.  
  
"And why would I 'kid' about something like that?" He withdrew his hand from her arm and stuffed the cork back inside the vile. "There, all finished. All we have to do now is bandage it up and then you're good to go." Draco reached across the bed and grabbed a package, taking out a roll of bandages.  
  
"Draco?" she asked.  
  
"Mm-hmm?" he replied, not really paying attention.  
  
"Err, thanks, I guess. For doing this."  
  
"No problem. Like I said before, Dumbledore wouldn't be too happy if I brought you back all bloody."  
  
"Ahh.so you're bringing me back now?" Hermione smirked.  
  
"Shut up, you know what I mean."  
  
"Haha, now I can read your mind." Draco finished bandaging her shoulder and clapped her on the back.  
  
"Done. Now please leave me alone so I can sleep." Too tired to protest, she immediately fell asleep.  
  
Hermione Granger brought her wand out from her pocket and held it out in front of her. The forest around her was dark and eerie, and the light of the full moon wasn't much help under the thick brake. She quickly muttered Lumos and followed its trail of light through the forest, jumping when she heard the slightest rustle of leaves. After walking for about fifteen minutes, she suddenly stopped, holding the light up to the left. Draco suddenly emerged, clutching his right arm, which was bleeding.  
  
"Draco?" she asked. "What's going on? I came out here because I felt something was wrong, and the orb kept glowing," she whispered. "Is it him?"  
  
"Yes it is," he said, grimacing. "We've got to go back up to the castle and warn Dumbledore," he said, and he started to move, but a cloaked figure moved from out behind the trees and blocked the way back to the castle.  
  
"Well, well," the figure sneered. "I don't think you two are going anywhere." He lowered his hood and Hermione stifled a gasp when she saw Voldemort's face. Voldemort hadn't completely formed back into his old figure, but it was a completely different transformation. He looked more human then he ever had before.  
  
"This plan won't work," Draco said, pulling Hermione behind him. Voldemort laughed.  
  
"Of course it will. Thanks to your father, everything is under control. We've already captured Dumbledore. The old fool will be getting his soul sucked out of him any minute now."  
  
"Step aside," Draco said, in a low, dangerous voice.  
  
"No." Draco whipped out his wand and shouted a spell, but in a flash of green light, he had shielded Hermione, and then he fell into her arms.  
  
"NO!" she cried out, burying her face in the collar of his shirt. She felt a hand on the side of her cheek.  
  
"Hermione." he said, stroking her cheek. "I love you." Those were the last words he spoke.  
  
Draco immediately sat up when he heard a strange noise from across the other side of the room. He quickly got out of his own bed and walked over cautiously. It was Hermione, and she was whimpering. She was clutching her chest, and she kept rocking back and forth.  
  
"Hermione," he whispered gently, trying to wake her up. Her eyes snapped open and she grabbed onto his arm as if making sure he wasn't going to leave her.  
  
"What is it?" he kept muttering, as she kept looking around the room.  
  
"No!" she shrieked, sitting up quickly, her hands outstretched. "Stop! No you can't!" she kept saying.  
  
"Hermione!" Draco said firmly. She looked at him, slightly confused.  
  
"You.you.you're not dead?" she asked.  
  
"You were dreaming, that's all," Draco said.  
  
"No.it wasn't a dream.you.Voldemort." she kept saying.  
  
"It was just a dream!" Draco told her. He turned her so she could see his face. "It was just a dream." She stopped trying to move away and then closed her eyes.  
  
"A dream." she repeated. "Yeah, I guess so." Her eyes were strangely distant and she was half asleep.  
  
"Don't go," she said, as he was about to stand up to move back to his own bed. "Stay here with me," she mumbled sleepily. He looked at her thoughtfully for a minute before lying down next to her. She snuggled up next to a very uncomfortable Draco.  
  
"Maybe this isn't a good idea," he said, but she had already fallen asleep. But then he heard her speak.  
  
"I love you too Draco..."  
  
  
  
Author's Note: For those of you who were wondering, Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century are actual books that our beloved Harry is in. If you don't believe me, it can be found on page 106 in Philosopher's Stone/Sorcerer's Stone. :D I love proving points. Anyway, what a shocker huh? I think the last statement from Hermione *points* effectively threw off poor Draco. His reaction? Hmm, why don't you wait and see. Next chapter: a Cruciatus curse? Wonder what that's about.more lessons, interesting conversations revealed, and you get to know more about how Hermione feels about Harry. And be patient for snogs, those don't happen until later. *Snarkle*  
  
Imbri thought up the entire physical challenge (basic facts, I added the details) scene with the magically slicked wall, nightmare grass, etc. And I had them down for pushups.:D A few days ago, I was reading Draco Sinister, by the infamous Cassandra Claire, and I came across the scene with the nightmare grass. I had already written chapter 2, and at first I was a little shocked, because as Imbri gave me the idea for the grass, I didn't know someone had already used it. I am on my knees begging for mercy and trying to avoid plagiarism. So I am crediting Cassie for the nightmare grass, and Imbri for the scene.  
  
  
  
The Makings of an Auror Chapter 03  
  
------------------------------------------------ "Maybe this isn't a good idea," he said, but she had already fallen asleep. But then he heard her speak.  
  
"I love you too Draco..." ------------------------------------------------  
  
Draco sat there, frozen, trying to sort out what he had just heard. Had Hermione really just said she loved him? And she said 'too'. Draco definitely thought that if he had ever told Hermione Granger I love you, he'd be throwing himself off a cliff the next second. Either that or he'd be dealing with Potter. She was probably dreaming, he assured himself. He drifted off into an uneasy sleep.  
  
***  
  
Hermione yawned and cuddled up next to the warm object lying next to her. The object stirred and mumbled something about mashed potatoes. She grumpily opened one eye.  
  
What she saw nearly made her fall out of bed. She was in the arms of a sleeping, shirtless Draco Malfoy, and he was muttering incoherently in his sleep. Hermione stifled a gasp and quietly tried to move his arms off of her back, but she didn't want to risk waking him. She slowly began to stand up, but he stirred and grabbed her shirt, pulling her back down to the bed.  
  
"Draco." she gasped, trying to relieve his death grip off of her shirt. "You're."  
  
"Hermione?" he said sleepily, his eyes still closed. He seemed to be half- awake, half-asleep.  
  
"Yes?" she asked quietly, hoping he might fall asleep again, and release her shirt.  
  
"I want another cookie!" he wailed, in a child-like voice. Completely thrown off by this sudden statement, she burst out laughing. He woke up fully, glancing around quickly.  
  
"What?" he said, confused. He quickly realized she was in his arms, and he was grasping her shirt that was dangerously close to revealing her chest.. "Oh shi-.oops," he muttered. "What the heck is going on?" he asked, letting go of her shirt.  
  
"Nothing, nothing at all," she giggled, massaging her throat. Draco rubbed his eyes sleepily.  
  
"It's too early," he mumbled, turning over, exposing his back to her. (A/N: Hermione at least gets to see a little flesh :p)  
  
"Wait a minute," she paused, leaning closer. She was gazing at his back. There was a long, thin scar that ran from his left shoulder to his waist. "Draco what happened-."  
  
"Let me sleep," he mumbled in an aggravated tone, also one that clearly stated the conversation was closed. She sighed, but a strange expression came over her face.  
  
"I'll give you another cookie," Hermione whispered into his ear. Draco straightened up.  
  
"What are you talking about Hermione? I swear I just don't get you this morning-"  
  
"Nothing, nothing at all Draco," she smiled. "Come on," she said, throwing a pillow in his direction. "Let's get going." She looked down and realized she hadn't changed out of the t-shirt and pants she had worn yesterday. But, she assumed, that if they were going to do another physical challenge, she had better stay in the ones she had on. Pulling her hair up in a bun, she tried not to watch as Draco freely changed in front of her. (A/N: Tried. She'll eventually give in. But he keeps his old trousers on.)  
  
"What do you suppose we'll be doing today?" he asked in a dignified manner, pulling his shirt on and following her out of the room.  
  
"Your guess is as good as mine," she replied, as the elevator doors closed.  
  
"But mine's better."  
  
***  
  
Everything appeared to be the same as the day before; people taking tests, doing drills, instructors screaming orders in their ears. Hermione didn't know what they were going to do, but she was prepared for the worst.  
  
"Granger? Malfoy?" someone from behind them asked. Hermione clenched her teeth together and turned around.  
  
"Yes, that's us," Draco replied, nudging Hermione hard in the back, making her stumble.  
  
"You're in classroom C today. Right over there," he grunted. Hermione followed Draco to the door, and he opened it quietly. The door creaked as it open, and Hermione felt Draco flinch as it squealed in protest. The door revealed a plain classroom filled with students.and a teacher.  
  
"Ahh Ms. Granger, Mr. Malfoy. How good of you to join us. But you're five minutes late. Sit down." The teacher fixed her stern glare on the two of them as they headed for the nearest seats.  
  
"As I was saying," she continued. "We were just talking about different hexes and curses. Ones that you should get used to feeling and performing. Let's just say that if you ever come into a duel with Death Eaters, or even, God forbid, Lord Voldemort himself, they're not going to use a silly leg-locker curse on you. Aurors and Albus Dumbledore are the only things that stand in Voldemort's way. So. If you pass this training camp, you will need to responsibly act as a sensible Auror. This means being prepared for anything, and everything. Never leave without your wand. This is normally your only means of protection.  
  
"If you were to come across a death eater, what would you do?" the teacher asked. A woman bounced enthusiastically in her chair in front of Draco, her hand in the air. He was instantly reminded of a younger Hermione.  
  
"Well, first you should bind them up or something, in case they try and escape. Then use an immobilizing curse and levitate them back someplace where they can be identified and properly accused of their wrongdoings." The woman finished and looked proud of herself. Hermione raised her hand quickly.  
  
"Yes Ms..umm, Ms-" the teacher started.  
  
"Granger, it's Granger," Hermione replied. "I think it depends solely on the circumstances. It would be hard to say how you would deal with a death eater." The female teacher gazed at Hermione thoughtfully for a moment.  
  
"Do tell," she instructed.  
  
"What if one had just suffered the Cruciatus Curse? You would not be in fit shape to handle a strong death eater. Or what if one was injured, or wounded? This all has to be thought over before you take action, or it could cost you your life."  
  
"Excellent Ms. Granger. You see class, how she thought of what she was going to do and say before she would go and confront the death eater? This is the kind of thinking it takes to be an Auror! This is what it's all about!" the teacher exclaimed. Draco saw the woman who had answered the earlier question turn and glare at Hermione. Hermione, meanwhile, was beet red. The teacher drew out her wand, and the class automatically flinched.  
  
"Have any of you ever had the Cruciatus Curse put on you? Be truthful now, don't be afraid to raise your hand." Nobody did anything, and perhaps she had expected this, because she was about to speak when Draco slowly raised his hand. The teacher was shocked for a minute.  
  
"Do you have a question dear?" the teacher asked. Draco inwardly groaned.  
  
"No, I was answering your question. About the Cruciatus Curse." Everybody was silent and had his or her attention fixed on Draco. The teacher made an odd choking noise.  
  
"Well, surely it must have been an accident, if you.at such a young age too."  
  
"I get it all the time," Draco replied coolly. The teacher cleared her throat quickly and the class nervously returned their attention to her.  
  
"My name is Ms. Burton, and I am your teacher for charms and hexes, basically everything you need to do with your wands. Here is how things are going to work today. We'll be putting numerous curses on you and see how you handle it. When I call your name, come up to the front of the room. Any questions?" She drew out a list of names and adjusted her horn- rimmed spectacles. "Anderson, Aubrey?" Aubrey, who was a couple of seats away, stood up and flipped her hair back, and then she walked, or strutted to the front of the room.  
  
"Have you heard of the Vilagance Hex?" Ms. Burton asked. Aubrey looked thoughtful for a minute.  
  
"No."  
  
"The Vilagance Hex makes the victim blind." A few people leaned over their desks, trying to catch every word she was about to say. "There is a counter curse for it, but I won't teach it to you until you feel the full effects of the actual spell first," Ms. Burton said simply. Aubrey stiffened. "Are you ready?"  
  
"Erm.yes," Aubrey said slowly  
  
Ms. Burton raised her wand and shouted, "Vilaganrio!" Aubrey shouted out and placed both hands over her eyes.  
  
"Bloody hell I can't see!" she shrieked. Everyone in the class laughed as she stretched both her arms out and began feeling around. "Do the counter curse, do the counter curse!" she shouted. Ms. Burton tried hard not to smile and preformed the counter curse. Aubrey blinked her eyes a few times and looked at the room around her.  
  
"Ha-ha. Very funny," Aubrey scowled, and went back to her seat.  
  
"See that class?" Ms. Burton asked. "That was an example of the Vilagance Hex. This can come in handy at times, but I doubt you'll need it much. You'll be more worried about other things than making somebody blind. Next: Barman, George?" Hermione watched as George Barman became speechless, literally, and as Anna Darci came under the control of the Lamentus Spell, making her unable to look at anyone or anything without making it explode. Hermione was just about to nod off to sleep when she heard,  
  
"Granger, Hermione?" Hermione's head shot up, and she slowly stood up. Draco tensed next to her, his fists clenched. She approached the front of the room and stood next to Ms. Burton. "Hmm.strangely enough," she muttered, walking around Hermione and examining her. Ms. Burton brought out her wand and took Hermione's wrist in her hand. Then, she did a few spells, which involved a lot of blue-ish green light to appear. But the teacher just released Hermione's wrist and went back to examining her.  
  
"Granger, what is your family history?" Ms. Burton asked.  
  
"Family History? Umm, muggles, that's mostly what I know. I did a bit of research on my heritage and the only source I have for wizard blood is in my great uncle, but even then he was a squib," she replied, slightly taken back.  
  
"That rules out any other possibilities.anyway, Ms. Granger, could you see me a week from now, in classroom F?" Ms. Burton asked quietly, trying to block others out of the conversation.  
  
"Umm, yes, that would be fine," Hermione replied, aware of the class staring at them. Ms. Burton smiled.  
  
"I also have another favor to ask of you Ms. Granger." Hermione nodded.  
  
"Would you allow me to perform the Cruciatus Curse on you?" Hermione's eyes grew wide with shock, and there was a crash from the back of the room. Draco had knocked his chair over in the process of standing up. Everyone turned to look at him.  
  
"You can't do that!" he protested. "You can't just go on and on about some crazy family history story, and then waltz right back up to her saying, 'Oh, by the way, can I do Cruciatus on you?" Hermione froze, rooted to the ground in shock. Draco.defended her? Or maybe he wanted to do the hurting part to her himself, she wasn't sure.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy, calm yourself--," Ms. Burton started.  
  
"You don't even know what it feels like do you?" he asked, eyes glowing. "You've never had Cruciatus have you?" The teacher stuttered and Draco crossed his arms defiantly.  
  
"Maybe she could.try?" Hermione interrupted. Draco and Ms. Burton turned to her.  
  
"Hermione, no--."  
  
"You'd let me?"  
  
"Hermione just stop."  
  
"Both of you!" Hermione practically shouted. "Draco, let me do what I want, and Ms. Barton, yes I will let you perform Cruciatus." The room was deadly silent, and nobody made a noise. Hermione was avoiding Draco's eyes. The look he was giving her wasn't one she liked. He bent down and straightened his chair, and sat down quietly, his expression unreadable. Ms. Burton cleared her throat and stepped away from Hermione, shaking her wand hand before transferring the wand from her left hand to her right.  
  
"Are you--," Ms. Burton began.  
  
"Yes, just do it," Hermione demanded, and she closed her eyes. Ms. Burton paused for a minute before saying the spell.  
  
"Crucio!" she shouted.  
  
Everything went quiet.  
  
Hermione clenched her fists, expecting extreme pain, but it never came. She slowly opened her eyes and gasped. She was surrounded in thick white mist. Hermione slowly walked a few feet before turning around and looking at her surroundings again. Hermione saw something move to her left and she spun around again. A man was walking up to her, but she couldn't see his face.  
  
"Hermione?" he asked.  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"Hermione love, don't you remember me?" the person almost yelled.  
  
"I.who are you?" she repeated. The back of her head was now throbbing and she had begun to feel sleepy.  
  
"I can't believe it," the person hissed. "You, acting like you don't know what's going on. Or is this just another one of your mind games?"  
  
"Mind games?" she repeated hysterically. "Please, I really don't know what happened.where-."  
  
Just as soon as she had asked this, the mist disappeared and she found herself in the classroom.  
  
"Hermione?" someone was asking.  
  
"Harry?" she asked quietly. Draco's head slid into focus. Damn.she thought.  
  
"Ms. Granger, are you alright?" Ms. Burton asked.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine," Hermione said, and she suddenly realized she was lying down on the floor. She sat up so quickly that everyone gasped. "What happened?"  
  
"Well.you repelled the curse." Ms. Burton was gazing at her curiously. Draco was paler, if that was possible.  
  
"I did.what?" she asked, grabbing Draco's arm.  
  
"Repelled the curse. At first we thought you were just stunned, but you blasted it away, and held it out in front of you, the curse that is, and-- ," Draco explained, but Hermione cut him short.  
  
"Held? I.I." Her grip on Draco's arm began to relax, and she fainted.  
  
***  
  
After class, Draco was absolutely furious.  
  
"I can't believe she did that to you," he shouted. Draco ran his hand though his hair, making it stand up in all directions. It was exactly the thing Harry would do.  
  
"It wasn't.too bad," she exclaimed, holding the damp cloth up to her forehead. "Gee Draco, why do you care so much?" she added innocently. Draco made a noise of impatience.  
  
"Come off it. Nobody deserves having to go through that curse unless they're working for Voldemort or something. You'd have thought she was just waltzing up to invite you to tea, but no." Draco stopped, searching in his pockets for the map. Hermione briefly wondered if she should tell Draco about the dream she had, but thought better of it.  
  
"Aha. Here, next lesson. We need to be.over there," Draco said, pointing to another section of the building. They began walking and Hermione took the map out of Draco's hands.  
  
"Ooh! Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts. This should be good," she commented eagerly.  
  
"I wonder who will be teaching this time. We've had a demon-possessed Quirrel, poncy git Lockhart, a werewolf, death-eater Mad Eye Moody impersonator, boy-crazy Veela woman (authors note: I used Fleur for the fifth year DADA professor, as there are so many rumours of her taking the job for the fifth book), and a vampire. They might as well give the job to a dementor."  
  
"Ha-ha, very funny."  
  
The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom was very.dark. Hermione sat down in one of the chairs, trying to keep her eyes firmly fixed on the center of the room, because she could have sworn the walls were crawling. There was a raised platform with a table and chair. Draco was humming placidly to himself, trying to keep things cheerful, but when people glared at him, he quickly stopped. He spun around in his chair as a long, audible creaking sound emitted from the door at the front of the room. A young man stepped out, carrying a large, heavy box full of interesting looking objects.  
  
"Well hello class!" he smiled, as if he hadn't been expecting them. "I've got a real treat for you today, and I think you're going to enjoy it." He crossed the room and deposited the heavy box on an unused table. "Alrighty. My name is Jonathan Lambert, your Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Call me Mr. Lambert, John, Johnny, whatever suits your taste." He gave everyone a grin that made Hermione's inside's melt. "Today! Very exciting lesson. There's an old saying, a wizarding saying, that goes: Never trust anything if you can't see where it keeps its brain. Actually, I really have no clue if that'll come in handy today, I just thought it was cool." Everyone laughed, and Draco glanced at Hermione, who was listening with rapt attention. "Partially, it could be used to describe today's lesson. There's this spell. It's a very special spell that allows you to look past the outside of an object and look within. This comes in handy in two ways. One: it could be used to examine an object, which may contain Dark Magic. For example: the Hand of Glory. Gives light to only the bearer. Very useful if you plan to steal something." Mr. Lambert walked over and grabbed something out of the box. And it was, indeed, the Hand of Glory. "Here. The very object itself. We will use this as an example today. I'd like a volunteer." Nearly every woman in the classroom anxiously raised her hand, including Hermione. Mr. Lambert looked around the room. "Hmm.ok, how about you lass?" He pointed directly at Hermione. In an instant, she had stood up and hurried to the front of the room, her cheeks flushed.  
  
"Well hello there. What might your name be?"  
  
"Hermione Granger," she replied, somewhat breathlessly.  
  
"Hermione. Beautiful name. Anyway. I called you up here to perform a little spell for me. I do take it you've heard of the Evincement spell?" Hermione nodded hurriedly.  
  
"The name was coined from the word evince, which means to show plainly."  
  
"Spot on. Well the Evincement Spell does exactly the same thing. If you point your wand at this object," Mr. Lambert said, holding up the Hand of Glory, "and say the Evincement Spell correctly, you should be able to see a faint, glowing blue light in the center. This indicates there is Dark Magic inside the object. What I want you to do is stand here." He positioned her in front of a table in the center of the room. "And say Eviticus. As soon as you want to end the spell, you say, evincio. Is everything clear?"  
  
"Crystal," Hermione grinned.  
  
"All right then, have a go at it." He stepped back and gave her some room. Hermione gripped her wand confidently and said,  
  
"Eviticus!" The world around her immediately went black. At first, she thought that she had accidentally said the wrong spell and made herself blind. But a bright glowing light caught her glance. She could barely make out the outline of the object, but it was the Hand of Glory. The blue light was luminous in the darkness, and she grinned despite herself. "Evincio!" she shouted. The room swam into focus. Mr. Lambert was beaming.  
  
"That was fantastic! You saw the light didn't you?"  
  
"I did, and it is a very useful spell," she commented.  
  
"Excellent. You may have a seat Ms. Granger." Mr. Lambert indicated her chair in the back of the room. Hermione graciously stepped down from the raised platform and sat down, grinning from ear to ear.  
  
"How was it?" Draco asked.  
  
"It was very fascinating! You would have loved it."  
  
"Loved it? You saw a blue light, how exciting can that be?" But Hermione didn't answer; she just kept her gaze fixed on the teacher, an odd expression on her face.  
  
***  
  
"I really like this place," Hermione grinned, throwing her head back and flopping down onto the bed. Draco and Hermione had just gotten back from the training area. "It's ok, I guess," Draco replied, removing his shoes.  
  
"What's got you in a bad state?" Hermione said suddenly, sitting up with a scowl. Draco coughed, and it sounded oddly like Lockhart.  
  
"What does Lockhart have to do with this?"  
  
"That Lambert guy."  
  
"Oh please," she mumbled irritably. "This is NOT a Lockhart situation. I was aged twelve."  
  
"I remember watching you, seeing your expressions every time Lockhart entered a room, or smiled, or said something to you. You were head-over- heels Hermione."  
  
"Watching me? That's funny. You mean when you despised me?"  
  
"Who says I don't now?"  
  
"Shut up," she replied angrily.  
  
"When that Lambert guy came in, your whole attitude changed."  
  
"Are you saying I fancy him? Good God Draco, the man must be at least twenty-one. And he's a teacher. I'd be stupid to fall in love with a teacher. And besides, I have Harry don't I?" Draco sneezed, and it sounded like Lockhart again. "Fine, if you want to be that way, then it's fine by me."  
  
"You realize you just said the word 'fine' twice? Buy a thesaurus, it's a bookworm's best friend." Hermione angrily stood up, glaring at him.  
  
"You're so.immature!" she shouted, and she ran out of the hotel room and slammed the door.  
  
***  
  
Hermione ran through the lobby and flew out of the front doors. She ran, and kept running until she could hardly breathe. Running into a park, she found a nice shady tree that blocked everything else from view. She slumped down and leaned against the trunk, her head in her knees.  
  
"Harry, I wish you were here," she mumbled quietly, tracing her finger along the loose pieces of bark, chipping a few off and throwing them into the lake nearby. Sighing, she closed her eyes.  
  
"Hermione, come on, you're so slow!" Harry teased, running through the snow effortlessly. Hermione clomped behind him.  
  
"It's these dratted boots! I can't do anything in them!" She walked a few more paces before stumbling, falling into the snow face first, laughing. Harry's face appeared over her.  
  
"Hello snow angel, where did you come from?" he grinned.  
  
"Harry, come on, help me up," she smiled, extending her hand out to him. He made no move to help her.  
  
"Harry James Potter." she scowled, making a swipe at him.  
  
"Ah!" he replied, catching her wrist. "You have to kiss me first!"  
  
"But what about-." She was cut off when he pressed his lips gently to hers, toppling down into the snow with her. Harry was never a harsh, crazy kisser. He was always so careful, so tender, treating her like a glass doll that would break at the slightest pressure. She was about to wrap her arms around his neck when he pulled away.  
  
"Look," he whispered, turning his head up towards the sky. "It's snowing." Snowflakes had begun to fall and they landed in his hair, making him look twenty years older.  
  
"It's beautiful," she murmured sleepily, letting her head drop back down so it was resting on the ground.  
  
"No, you're beautiful,," was Harry's short, sweet reply. He kissed her on the forehead.  
  
"I love you Harry," she grinned.  
  
"Love you too Herm."  
  
With a gasp, Hermione jerked awake, rubbing her eyes. She found that she was crying, and she wiped her cheeks.  
  
"You're awake," a voice said. Hermione spun around.  
  
"Draco, I-Mr. Lambert! What are you doing here?"  
  
"Draco? I'm not Draco, whoever he may be. I was just passing by when I heard somebody muttering. And I found you."  
  
"I was muttering?" she asked sheepishly.  
  
"Something about Harry, kisses, and snowflakes," Mr. Lambert said thoughtfully. "But I could have misheard." He searched in his pocket for something, and then he drew out a handkerchief. "Here, you look like you could use it."  
  
"Thank you," Hermione said, taking the handkerchief, but she didn't use it.  
  
"Something troubling you?" Mr. Lambert asked.  
  
"Well.no, actually, not really. I've just been a little depressed lately. It's only been two days but I still miss everyone back at Hogwarts-."  
  
"Hogwarts? You're a professor then?"  
  
"Oh no, I'm a student actually. Head Girl to be exact."  
  
"A student?" Mr. Lambert echoed in disbelief. "Oh I see. So you're the one everyone was talking about. Didn't you have a friend or something?"  
  
"Yes, that would be Draco."  
  
"It's really amazing that you are so young, yet have the quality and potential to be an Auror. How old are you?"  
  
"Seventeen. I turn eighteen in September, so I still have a year to go before I'm of legal age to do magic."  
  
"That's excellent," he beamed.  
  
"Mr. Lambert-."  
  
"Call me Jonathan, or, whatever you want. Mr. Lambert makes me sound like an old man."  
  
"There's nothing wrong with being an old man," Hermione giggled.  
  
"Right you are Hermione, or would you prefer it if I called you Ms. Granger," he grinned.  
  
"Oh, Hermione is fine. Anyway, Jonathan," Hermione replied, saying his name as if it were foreign. "You're an Auror too right?"  
  
"Yes I am. Haven't really worked on anything special yet though. I am, after all, nineteen."  
  
"Woah! That's pretty young to be a teacher and an Auror," Hermione commented.  
  
"I turn twenty in a month, so I'm not too young," he replied. "Besides, it's just a temporary job. I'm filling in as a substitute. Are you sure you're ok?" He eyed her with uneasiness. "You look like you could be sick."  
  
"No, I'll be just fine."  
  
"So would you mind accompanying me to.I dunno, dinner or something? You can bring your friend," he assured her quickly.  
  
"Dinner?"  
  
"Of course you don't want to, I'll just be on my way-."  
  
"Dinner sounds great!" Hermione replied. "My friend doesn't really need to come. He's always busy," she muttered harshly. "It's not a.well, date or anything, right?"  
  
"No, no, no. Not at all," he said quickly. "Besides. I'm your teacher right?" He winked at her slyly. "I'll pick you up here tonight. Is seven o'clock all right?"  
  
"It's perfect. Should I dress casual, or a little more formal?"  
  
"I'd go formal, but whatever works best for you. I wouldn't mind if you showed up in what you're wearing now." He glanced down at her old t-shirt and her worn jeans.  
  
"All right, I'll come formal."  
  
"Excellent. I'll see you then!"  
  
***  
  
Draco was sitting on his bed, reading his Arithmancy book, when the door to the hotel room opened. Hermione stepped in, looking radiant.  
  
"Hermione what-."  
  
"I'm going to dinner tonight," Hermione said, in a sing-song voice.  
  
"Dinner? With who?"  
  
"Jonathan," she replied innocently. Draco made a choking noise.  
  
"Jonathan Lambert? The Advanced DADA teacher? What the hell are you thinking? He's practically five years older than you!"  
  
"He's two years older than me, don't get your knickers in a twist," she replied harshly. "Besides, it's not a date or anything." She glanced at her watch, and it read five o'clock. "I think I'll go find a muggle salon and get my nails done," Hermione said smartly. "See you later." She grabbed her purse and strode out of the room, leaving Draco gawking after her.  
  
"Hermione! Arhh!"  
  
***  
  
Hermione nervously smoothed her hair, peeking around the corner of the large tree, looking for any sign of Mr. Lam-err, Jonathan. She had dressed formal, wearing her black dress she had worn the other night. Her favorite diamonds adorned her ears and neck, and she had kept true to her word and gotten her nails done by a professional witch. She made a noise of impatience and sat down at the foot of the tree.  
  
"Aha! Here you are Hermione!" Hermione jumped five feet in the air.  
  
"Jonathan! You scared me!" she replied, clutching her chest.  
  
"Ooh, sorry, I have a tendency to do that to people. Shall we go then?" he said, offering an arm. She awkwardly took it, and they set off at a moderate walking pace.  
  
"It's a nice night," she commented, looking up at the sky.  
  
"Yes it is. Supposedly we're supposed to get a bit of snow overnight."  
  
"Snow? It's October."  
  
"It's not entirely unusual to get snow here in October. We sometimes even get it in September."  
  
"It must be lovely then," she grinned.  
  
"Oh yes it is. Not a single object goes without a blanket of white during winter. Ah! Here's the place." Hermione looked down from the sky and her eyes landed on a small, yet cozy looking restaurant. "After you Madame." Jonathan held open the door for her, and she stepped inside eagerly, shrugging her jacket off. The inside was dimly lit, and a roaring fireplace greeted them. She hung her coat up on the rack and followed Jonathan to a table.  
  
"This is such a quaint little place," Hermione giggled, wrinkling up her nose. "It reminds me of muggle movies I watch, with the cold air, nice comfy rooms, all a perfect setting for a nice dinner for two."  
  
"Muggle movies?"  
  
"I'm muggle born," Hermione muttered.  
  
"No kidding! I am too! What's your favorite movie?"  
  
"Umm, I'd have to say.Casablanca. It's a wonderful story."  
  
"Oh really? I haven't seen it. Tell me about it sometime."  
  
"Sounds good to me. Anyway, what's yours?"  
  
"Oh you know, the bloody, gory type of war movies, lots of action," he began, and Hermione giggled. "Well what did you expect? Something 'Shakespeareistic'?"  
  
"'Shakespeareistic isn't a word," she pointed out.  
  
"You should be a teacher, not me. Grammar and Literature are two of my worst subjects." A waiter approached the table, carrying two menus and two plates. He set them down in front of Hermione and Jonathan.  
  
"Alright, here ye go. What shall it be tonight for ye?" he asked. Hermione choked back a laugh.  
  
"A 'Breakfast for Dinner' plate. God I love those things. What about you Hermione?"  
  
"That sounds good as well. Make it two please," she smiled. The waiter took a minute to write it down before snatching the menus away from them.  
  
"It'll be done in no time at all."  
  
"Breakfast for Dinner? How nutritional," Hermione replied.  
  
"It comes with bacon, toast, eggs, fried ham, biscuits, gravy, everything you can imagine."  
  
"Even if I imagined.oh, let's say mashed potatoes?"  
  
"Umm, maybe not everything." Hermione burst out laughing. "So tell me about Draco," Jonathan said.  
  
"Draco?"  
  
"Yes. You did say his name was Draco right?"  
  
"Yes, yes I did. Draco." She paused here, her fists clenched. "He's quite the character. He's very.arrogant. Before we were sent here, you could say we were worst enemies." Jonathan was watching her intently. "Maybe now, we're not enemies, but I wouldn't say we were friends, good friends that is. It has, after all, only been two days since we've been here, roughly two days."  
  
"He sounds like someone I used to know," Jonathan said thoughtfully. "We wrote letters, back and forth, all the time. Until he became a Death Eater."  
  
"That's awful," Hermione said sympathetically.  
  
"The food's coming," he said suddenly, and Hermione strained her neck to look behind her. The waiter was approaching the table, carrying a very large platter of food.  
  
"Oh my gosh," she commented. "That is a lot of food."  
  
"That's why I expect you to eat until you absolutely can't stand another bite," he replied.  
  
"Ha-ha, very funny." The waiter set the platter down in-between them, and Hermione anxiously picked up her fork.  
  
"Dig in!"  
  
***  
  
Draco furiously flung his Arithmancy book across the room. He was sick of being bored, sick of sitting there while Hermione was out with the Lambert git, sick of the same old routine every day. There is nothing to do around here, he thought placidly to himself. Grabbing his wallet and jacket, he left the hotel.  
  
The weather outside was decidedly freezing, and Draco wrapped his jacket tighter around himself. Hermione, Hermione, Hermione, he thought. Why was he thinking of Hermione? For God's sake, the woman practically abandoned him just because he mentioned Lockhart and a thesaurus. Now who's the mature one, eh? But his thoughts were interrupted when a loud crash of thunder snapped him back to his senses. Draco spotted a bar just a few blocks away and he hurried over.  
  
***  
  
"This is really good," Hermione said, through a mouthful of biscuits and gravy.  
  
"Spectacular," Jonathan commented. "Oh would you look at that." Hermione looked up from her plate and looked towards where Jonathan had pointed.  
  
"Oh my God."  
  
Draco was standing in the doorway, looking around the restaurant.  
  
"We need to get out of here," Hermione said hurriedly, trying to collect her things.  
  
"He's looking this way," Jonathan assured her. "He doesn't seem to notice you're here. That is, I presume, Draco from earlier right? I remember him glancing at you frequently during the lesson."  
  
"Ha, like Draco would ever stare at me," she muttered placidly, propping her menu in front of her face. "I just hope he doesn't pick the booth.oh no."  
  
Draco had sat down in the booth in front of them.  
  
***  
  
Draco was relieved when he stepped inside the warm restaurant. It was a cozy place, with a roaring fire and the happy chattering of people, but somehow, it seemed slanted.. Draco hung up his jacket and took a few steps, trying to calm his throbbing head, when he heard a familiar voice.  
  
"Oh.my.God."  
  
"Wait, I think he might be sitting somewhere else," someone else replied. Draco took a few steps closer and picked the nearest booth he could find. He heard a woman groan behind him.  
  
"It'll be fine, I don't think he'll stay long. Besides, why don't you want him here?" Draco strained to here the next words.  
  
"Well, we got into this.I don't know, argument earlier. Reflecting back now, it seems pretty stupid, but I still don't want him here, he could ruin everything."  
  
"If you'd like," Draco began, sticking his head out so he could see. "I could find another booth." He caught sight of whom he was speaking to and nearly laughed. "Hermione?"  
  
"Draco just.go away please. You see?" she muttered angrily to Jonathan. "I told you he'd ruin-."  
  
"I was just coming in here for a cup of coffee. Would you mind?" Draco had indicated the empty spot next to Jonathan. He looked as if he did mind, but he didn't say anything as Draco sat next to him. "Hey you!" he yelled to a waitress. "How 'bout getting me a drink? Coffee please." He left the disgruntled waitress to go off and make his coffee.  
  
"Draco.are you drunk?" Hermione asked slowly and carefully.  
  
"Why would I be drunk?" Draco asked. But a strange look came over his face. "I did stop by the bar for a couple of drinks.but I only had.wait as minute." He brought up his hand and tried to count but he gave up. "I don't know." The waitress returned with his coffee, and he seized it, splashing coffee on the table.  
  
"I think you should get back to the hotel," Hermione said firmly.  
  
"After my coffee."  
  
"Take your coffee back to the hotel. Fine. If you need me to, I'll get you home."  
  
"But I want-,"  
  
"NO!" She picked up her purse and moved out of the booth. "Jonathan, I'm really sorry--."  
  
"No need to be," he replied, waving his hand.  
  
"Do you want me to pay for all of this?" she asked, indicating the mess.  
  
"It's quite all right. You'd better get him home."  
  
"Thank you so much," she replied, looking truthfully relieved. "We'll have to do this some other time."  
  
"Sounds great. You need any help getting him home?"  
  
"Ha. All I have to do is pretend we're following a group of women in bikinis. Come on Draco," she replied, waving goodbye to Jonathan, grabbing their jackets, and staggering outside.  
  
It had begun to snow, and Hermione hurriedly put on her jacket while Draco tried to chase the snowflakes.  
  
"Come on!" she replied firmly. Draco stopped chasing them and staggered up to Hermione, his movements sluggish.  
  
"I feel sick." he muttered.  
  
"Hold still," Hermione said, bringing out her wand. "Alchohilis!" The number six appeared at the tip of her wand. "You had six drinks?"  
  
"I think.it might have been sixteen, but then again I can't remember much of anything."  
  
"You're so stupid. What were you doing out here anyway? I can't believe-- ." She was abruptly cut off when Draco pressed his lips against hers. Hermione stood, frozen to the ground, her eyes wide. Draco tasted like alcohol, and for that, she wasn't surprised. But for some reason, she couldn't get her brain to function properly. She was clearly aware of Draco's mouth against hers, the way he applied slight pressure to his kiss, and his awkward positioning of his hands. But she couldn't bring herself to push him away. Fear brought her back to reality. She blindly reached out for Draco's hand, seized his steaming hot mug of coffee, and mercilessly dumped it down the back of his shirt.  
  
"Hermione!!!!" he shrieked, immediately breaking the kiss and flopping down into the snow, rubbing his back against the frozen ground.  
  
"What.the hell.were you doing."  
  
"What? What did I.I." An odd look came across his face, and he fainted.  
  
"Great! Exactly what I need. Why does this have to happen to me!" She preformed the levitating charm on Draco and she raced off to the suites.  
  
***  
  
Hermione collapsed, exhausted, onto her bed. She had been sitting up for two hours, trying to get Draco to sleep, and at last he had. He kept muttering things incoherently, and twice he woke up, thinking he was in a spaceship headed for the moon. But now, as she watched him sleep (she didn't quite know why), she felt at peace. But an annoying wave of guilt in her stomach prevented her from falling asleep. Draco had, inexplicably and totally unexpectedly, kissed her. Hermione had only kissed one other person, and that was Harry. She knew Harry very well. She knew his way of thinking, his emotions, even his style of kissing. But Draco was completely foreign to her. Something about him made her scared, yet indescribably comfortable. Her thoughts kept straying to his scent, his taste, and his touch. Damnit Hermione, he was drunk, and you know it, so stop trying to make it into something it's not.  
  
Draco awoke with a splitting headache, and he sat up dizzily, trying to remember what happened.  
  
"Hermione?" he said hoarsely.  
  
"Sleeping beauty awakes," she replied softly. "Now you can tell me what happened, and why you were drunk." Her head swam into focus, and he blinked a couple of times, a confused look on his face.  
  
"I.I don't exactly.I mean I hardly--."  
  
"News flash. You got drunk. You ruined a perfectly good evening. And--." She paused here, her expression blank.  
  
"And?"  
  
"You were a bastard. Why were you drunk?" she repeated.  
  
"I got drunk because.I think I was just walking outside, and I saw this bar, and so I went over there."  
  
"You had six drinks."  
  
"Was it really six? I lost count after the third one."  
  
"What were you doing outside anyway? It was snowing!"  
  
"Oh, I guess it's a crime now to walk outside," he replied smartly. "I'm not the one eating with Mr. No-brains."  
  
"You're just jealous I had a fun-filled evening. That is, until you came along." She folded her arms and sat on the end of his bed. "Do you realize how bad this looks? Mr. Lambert saw you drunk. Drunk, Malfoy. And he's your advanced DADA teacher. Don't you think he'll be a bit disappointed, and maybe give you a detention--."  
  
"So what? I don't care."  
  
"You should bloody well care! Don't you even see how much you ruined my evening? Oh wait, you're too much like your father to even care." Draco sat very still, his expression blank.  
  
"Don't ever compare me to my father," he said quietly, his voice low and shaking. "He doesn't even amount to half of me, even if that doesn't amount to much."  
  
"Draco, I-" But she was interrupted by a loud and furious tap on the window outside. Hermione immediately stood up, glad for an excuse to get away from Draco, and opened the window. A small tawny owl flew in, carrying a large envelope. She untied the letter from it's leg and opened it up quietly.  
  
Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Granger,  
  
I know I haven't been mailing you as often as I should have, (it's only been two days, Hermione thought) but I haven't had as much time on my hands as I thought. The ministry has been a little anxious to start doing something about Voldemort, but it would be a bit unwise to start taking drastic measures. We have begun to boost the school's defense system. Hogwarts are being charmed with anti-dark arts spells, so that an alarm will sound if anything related to the dark arts is used. This does mean canceling some of the more dangerous DADA lessons, but I doubt Mr. Malfoy will be grieved. As soon as you return, we will also begin tightening the patrol at night. This means that the prefects will have to take shifts in patrolling during the night. I know this is a lot to ask of you, especially at such a young age, but I would like you to head our Patrol Board. There will be meetings regularly, and you will be required to attend.  
  
Things are very uneventful here, and the school is running smoothly. We await your return.  
  
Albus Dumbledore  
  
"Letter from Dumbledore," Hermione replied shortly, tossing the letter in Draco's direction. Hermione picked up the empty envelope and carried it with her to bed. She was about to throw it into the trash when another piece of parchment fell out. She picked it up.  
  
Hermione, I had to have Dumbledore send you this letter, because I sent it to your house the first time, but Hedwig came back with it. How have you been? Is your mum all right? Are you all right? You looked so worried when you left Hogwarts. Anyway, things are good here at Hogwarts. A rumour has been spreading, though, of Voldemort. They say he's going to attack the school. Pretty stupid right? Ron thinks it was a bunch of third year Slytherin girls looking to cook up some good gossip. Either that or Lavender and Parvati did it. Speaking of Ron, he's dating this Ravenclaw, who I personally think is all looks and no brains. But it's his decision. If he wants to make a prat f himself, he can go right ahead. I need something to laugh at anyway. Quidditch practices have started up. For some reason, they decided to start them early. That wouldn't be too bad, if it would just stop raining here. The lake has flooded to twice it's normal size, and the grounds are three inches deep in water. Not too bad you say? It is if you have to go clomping out there to get to Herbology.  
  
Hermione, I really, really miss you. It's been so lonely without you! I know, it's only been two days, but it seems like forever. There's no Hermione to help me study, and she won't be here for a looonnnggg time. There's always Ron.but he's best if he's left alone. But anyway. I'll tell you what. When you get back, I'll throw a huge Gryffindor party for you. Yes, I know you hate parties, but it'll be fun. There's just one more thing. I haven't seen Malfoy anywhere. This is a good thing. But I can't help but wonder.anyway. Love ya Herm.  
  
Love, Harry  
  
Hermione tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but she only succeeded in making a choking noise.  
  
"Hermione?" Draco asked quietly. Hermione stuffed the letter under her pillow and stood up quickly.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Well.I'm.err, I'm.what I'm trying to say is." Draco didn't get a chance to finish, because he immediately fell asleep.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------  
  
Author's Note: Ahh! What was Draco going to say? I'll let you people think about that for a bit :p Ok, so a lot is happening in this chapter. Mr. Lambert shows quite an interest in Hermione. I wonder what that's about. Well, I know what's going to happen, but I can't say anything! So you've seen a drunk Draco, a happy Hermione, and a brand new character, Mr. Jonathan Lambert. Things are gonna get good. Oh, and a special thanks to Draco's_Gurl, who checked this chapter for me and said if it was moving too fast or not.  
  
Reviewers:  
  
The Makings of an Auror Chapter 04  
  
***  
  
Draco awoke to the fierce wind outside, banging against the glass windows. He grumbled and tried to roll over and get back to sleep, but the wind was too noisy to be ignored. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and sat up in bed, despite his aching head. Glancing briefly around the room, he noticed Hermione wasn't there. There was, however, a note on her bed. He ambled over, and picked it up. It was very short.  
  
Went to pool. Be back later.  
  
***  
  
Hermione set her towel down at the edge of the large, indoor pool. The candles lining the room were reflected in the water, giving the room a glowing look. She dove into the water, letting the warmth of the water wash away her stress. She swam back to the edge and turned on one of the numerous taps, and the swimming pool filled with purple foam and bubbles. Hermione closed her eyes and let herself to slip into her thoughts.  
  
"Hey." Hermione choked on a fresh wave of purple foam, and she immediately opened her eyes.  
  
Oh, Draco," she said calmly, clutching her throat. "What are you doing here?" She hated to admit it but he looked awfully good in those swim trunks.  
  
"I came to swim, what's it look like?" He threw his towel across the room and dove an immaculate and flawless dive. "Thank God for heated, indoor pools," he said, as he surfaced for air. "I see you turned on the bubbles. They'd look much better if they were green."  
  
"I see you're back to your usual snooty self, and I can't decide if that's a good thing or not."  
  
"Snooty self? That wouldn't be a compliment now would it?"  
  
"I should think not," Hermione scoffed. "I'm not the one going around getting drunk, ruining dinners, and kissing people now am I?"  
  
"Well I'm not the one eating dinner-wait.did you just say kissing people?" Hermione's face went white and she started backing up.  
  
"Kissing? I meant dissing, sorry."  
  
"Hermione-"  
  
"Forget it!"  
  
"Why won't you-"  
  
"I said forget it!"  
  
"But you said kiss-"  
  
"Alright! Last night when you were drunk, I was taking you back to the hotel and you kissed me." Hermione said this all very quickly, and when she had finished, Draco was ashen-faced.  
  
"I did WHAT?" he shrieked.  
  
"You heard me."  
  
"Why.how.what did you do?"  
  
"I dumped coffee down the back of your shirt," she mumbled quietly.  
  
"Which explains the blister I have now right?"  
  
"Uhh, oops. But.you kissed me!"  
  
"I'm not too thrilled with the fact I did it myself you know," Draco replied bitterly. "Besides, it was just a kiss."  
  
"Just a kiss?" Hermione shrieked. "A kiss is a sign of affection shown between two people who fancy each other!"  
  
"I'm aware of the definition Granger." They stood in silence for a few minutes, the steady drip of water strangely magnified in the room.  
  
"I hate to interrupt, this was getting so interesting, but might I point out all of your bubbles are gone?" Hermione and Draco both looked up at the source of the voice. Clad in a silk bathrobe, Aubrey was standing near the back of the room.  
  
"Aubrey?"  
  
"Hey Draco! Hermone."  
  
"It's Hermione," she automatically corrected.  
  
"Whatever. Isn't this quaint." Aubrey's dark eyes glittered maliciously. "A little lover's spat."  
  
"This is not a lover's spat," Draco hissed. "Stay out of it."  
  
"Well if it's not a lover's spat." Aubrey reached for the tie on her robe, and she untied it and let it fall to her feet. She was dressed in a scanty and very-revealing bikini. Perhaps this was what she had wanted, because she was eyeing Draco's expression with great satisfaction. Hermione felt fully clothed in her one-piece swimsuit.  
  
"We were sort of busy here," Hermione pointed out, folding her arms. Aubrey slipped into the pool and waded over to them.  
  
"I see no business of yours that can't be tended to later. Come on Draco, let's go for a swim."  
  
"I'm perfectly happy standing right here, thanks."  
  
"You're so dull! Come on. Have a little adventure!" Draco was about to reply that he'd seen Voldemort twice, nearly gotten killed five times, and gone on plenty of adventures, but he thought better of it.  
  
"You two can stay here if you like, but I've had enough of this ridiculous quarrel," Hermione declared, getting out of the water and grabbing her towel. Draco watched Hermione leave with a scornful face, and Aubrey waved happily. The door shut with a click.  
  
"My God she's annoying, isn't she?" Aubrey commented, sighing and sitting on the edge of the pool.  
  
"Sure," Draco replied, not really listening.  
  
"So Draco, how old are you?" Aubrey asked.  
  
"And why would you want to know?"  
  
"Oh, no reason," Aubrey replied carefully. "Just curious."  
  
"Fine. I'm turning eighteen in a month."  
  
"Eighteen? Mm."  
  
"And you?"  
  
"I'm twenty-two."  
  
"Twenty-two?" Draco choked.  
  
"And don't you dare say I'm old. I'm wonderfully young, and have my entire life ahead of me," Aubrey said. "So is that Hermone-freak your girlfriend or something?"  
  
"Ha. That's funny. First of all, her name is Hermione. Second of all.well, she's not my girlfriend."  
  
"And do you want her to be?"  
  
"That's funny too. You should consider a job as a comedian." Draco sighed, closing his eyes. "No, I don't want her to be my girlfriend." Aubrey looked thoughtful for a moment before sliding back into the pool.  
  
"I see. Well that means you're not taken right?" she said slowly, coming up closer to him and placing both of her hands on his shoulders.  
  
"Taken?" Draco replied blankly.  
  
"You know.are you available?"  
  
"Available? You're acting as if I'm a lot for sale. No, I'm not available for two reasons. One, I don't want you getting any perverted ideas. Two, I don't want to be available."  
  
"Every guy has something they want. It's deep down," Aubrey said smartly, poking him in-between his ribs. Draco sighed a defeated sigh.  
  
"Alright you got me," he said, his voice low. "I do have this deep desire I'm just begging for it to come true."  
  
"Aha! I knew it! What is it?"  
  
"I want you to go away."  
  
"You're so rude," Aubrey scowled, faking a look of disappointment.  
  
"One of my many gifts. Now would you be a doll and leave?"  
  
"Fine be that way," she said haughtily.  
  
"Don't worry, I plan to." Aubrey looked like she was about to leave but she gave in.  
  
"Come on!" she pleaded. "Let's go do something! It's terribly boring here at this Auror place. Too many serious people around. You don't want to be a serious person do you?"  
  
"I find that a life of seriousness and solitude wouldn't be too bad, but I've got such a sharp-witted tongue that it would be a pity to go silent."  
  
***  
  
Hermione stomped up to the hotel room, not even bothering to dry herself with a Drying Charm. Why that good for nothing.she's just a slut with no brains, Hermione thought bitterly to herself. She set down her towel and was about to go change out of her swimsuit when she gasped.  
  
"My book! I must have left it downstairs!" She took the lift and hurried down to the pool area. She pushed open the door and was about to grab her book when she stopped dead. Aubrey had Draco pinned against the side of the pool and she was kissing him passionately, her legs wrapped around his waist. Hermione furiously grabbed her book and spun around, making sure to slam the pool door very, very hard.  
  
"Hermione?" Draco asked, his voice muffled through Aubrey's lips. He pushed her hard off of him, which was difficult because she had succeeded in clinging to him effectively. He jumped out of the pool and didn't even bother to pick up his towel. Aubrey cursed under her breath.  
  
"Hermione!" Draco shouted, banging on the hotel door. She had locked him out, and him being who he was, he had forgotten the card key. "Hermione!" he repeated. "Damnit." He slumped to the floor, his head in his knees. If only she knew WHY I was kissing Aubrey. Sighing, Draco stood up for one last go.  
  
"Listen to me. You have to let me in, we can't keep it like this forever," he said. "Let me explain to you why I was kissing Aubrey, and you'll see what I mean." There was a silence and then a soft click. Draco turned the handle and the door slowly opened. Hermione was sitting on her bed, her book open on her lap. She had changed out of her swimsuit to her pajamas. She didn't look up when he entered.  
  
"Hermione. Look at me," Draco said firmly. She slowly raised her head, but she kept her gaze fixed on the wall behind him. "I wasn't intentionally kissing Aubrey. Have you ever heard of the Imperio curse?" he said sarcastically. "She used it on me, alright? And sure, I tried fighting it. I fought like hell against that curse. But when you came in, she was distracted and she forgot about the curse. That gave me a chance to try and get your attention." Hermione wasn't saying anything. She just sat with a blank look on her face. "Why are you mad at me? Even if I was intentionally kissing Aubrey, it wouldn't be any right of yours to get upset." He saw her throat constrict.  
  
"I just don't think it's fair for you to accuse me of being a git, when I went out to dinner with Jonathan, while you're down in the lobby snogging Aubrey!" Hermione exclaimed.  
  
"I just told you that I wasn't kissing her intentionally. And besides, we were in the pool, not the lobby." Hermione folded her arms and glared. "What?" he exclaimed. "I'm not perfect like Potter you know! I can't fight the Imperio curse! Ok? Get it into your head and keep it there Hermione, because I'm not telling you again what happened down there." Draco went quiet, his chest heaving with emotion. Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but only a small choking noise came out. Draco slumped down onto his bed and sat there quietly, his gaze fixed on the carpeting.  
  
"Draco."  
  
"What? Are you going to insult me again?" he replied bitterly.  
  
"I was just going to say sorry." Hermione bit her lip and closed her book, drawing her knees to her chest. "I'm sorry for getting mad." Draco lifted his head up but he didn't look at her.  
  
"Why were you mad in the first place?" he asked quietly. Hermione didn't respond. "Why would you have a reason to get mad?"  
  
"I.well.a reason.I don't know, it was just strange seeing you kissing Aubrey."  
  
"Strange?"  
  
"Yeah. It made me--."  
  
"Jealous?" Draco offered.  
  
"No you git, it made me want to be sick."  
  
"Ha. I see now. So no jealousy was involved eh?"  
  
"Shut up," she grinned. She averted her gaze and stared at her lap.  
  
"What? Still mad?"  
  
"Well, no, not really. I'm just thinking."  
  
"About--." But Draco was interrupted by a knock on the hotel door. With a confused glance at Hermione, he walked over and cracked the door open. Hermione leaned across her bed to get a look at who was outside.  
  
"-right in here-," she heard Draco say. He opened the door all the way.  
  
"Jonathan!" Hermione said, wishing she had changed into some clothes, instead of her pale blue pajamas.  
  
"Hey. Just wanted to check in on you, see if Draco here had fully recovered.  
  
"Yeah, he's fine. But I have a question."  
  
"Go for it."  
  
"How'd you find the room number?"  
  
"Being a teacher does have its advantages," Jonathan said, with a wink. He held out her registration form, and beneath her name, she saw that in her own handwriting, she had written out the room number.  
  
"Oh of course," she replied, handing him the parchment. "Thank you for checking in on us."  
  
"No problem," Jonathan replied, with a wave of his hand. He glanced at Draco, who glared slightly. "I promise not to tell anyone else about Mr. Malfoy's escapade at the bar." Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"Thank you. I have one more question before you leave," Hermione said.  
  
"Alright, but you're only entitled to one," he grinned.  
  
"You're not angry about last night are you?" Jonathan looked taken aback.  
  
"No! Of course not! It reminds me of this time when I was.oh, sixteen I believe, and I drank way too much butterbeer  
  
"Butterbeer isn't an alcoholic beverage though," Hermione said.  
  
"It is if you add the alcohol," Jonathan replied with a grimace. "Anyway, I'd better go. I've got lots of things to do to prepare for Monday's lesson."  
  
"Thanks for dropping by," Hermione said again, standing up and poking Draco painfully on the back.  
  
"Yes, and thank you for not mentioning.you know," Draco said.  
  
"Not a problem. See you on Monday then!" And with that, he walked out the door. Draco closed the door gratefully behind him.  
  
"Honestly," he said bitterly. "I just don't get what you see in him." Hermione rolled her eyes.  
  
"I don't see anything.I mean, not that he doesn't have the good manners, or looks, but--." She stopped, because Draco was shaking with silent laughter.  
  
"Geez, you take everything so seriously," he smirked. She smiled slightly.  
  
"Yes, I suppose I do." She sat back down on her bed, grabbing one of her pillows and holding it close to her. "But it's just the way I am, and you're just going to have to deal with it." Draco shrugged and sat down next to her.  
  
"I've been dealing with it for.wait, it's only been three days. A very eventful three days."  
  
"You're right. I can't imagine this going on for two months," she replied thoughtfully, snuggling closer to her pillow. "We'd better hope things will slow down, otherwise it would be major overload."  
  
"We'll get breaks, perhaps a Halloween break or something," Draco said. "We should be back at Hogwarts in time for the Christmas Holidays."  
  
"And we'll be certified Aurors!" Hermione said excitedly. But her face fell. "Nobody will know about it though, will they? Dumbledore will probably tell us not to say anything."  
  
"Yeah, it figures all right. But at least we'll know the truth. And you'll eventually tell Potter and Weasley," he finished bitterly.  
  
"And why do you say that?" Hermione replied defensively. "I don't tell them everything you know."  
  
"I guess not," Draco replied. Hermione moved her pillow away to look at him properly.  
  
"Now I have a question for you." He looked up to gaze at her. "What.well, I don't exactly know how to say this, but.what's going to happen when we get back to Hogwarts?" She finished looking skeptical.  
  
"Classes, feasts, homework-"  
  
"Draco," Hermione said warningly.  
  
"What?" he replied, throwing his hands up. "You asked, I answered."  
  
"I'm talking about.not us, as in.us, you know, but us on speaking terms." Draco was very quiet when she said this. He finally spoke.  
  
"Well," he said slowly. "I think we shouldn't be very.public, if you know what I mean."  
  
"Public?" she asked uncertainly.  
  
"As in talking to each other in front of other people without yelling hurtful things," he explained. Hermione nodded.  
  
"I suppose it's for the best," she sighed.  
  
"Something wrong?" Draco asked. Hermione shifted uncomfortably.  
  
"No, not really. Well, I don't know." Hermione went quiet, thinking of Harry and Ron again. "Maybe I'm just worried of what Harry and Ron will think."  
  
"Hey," Draco said, leaning over and nudging her with his shoulder. "It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks." Hermione looked up thoughtfully at him.  
  
"Yeah, I guess you're right," she said, giving him a small smile.  
  
"I'm always right, so perk up Hermione," he grinned.  
  
***  
  
The weekend was very uneventful from then on, which was probably a good thing too, as the next week would be filled with training exercises. The week began with a seminar, which explained a few of the regular routines, procedures, and other essential things they would need to do before each lesson. After that, they went through a series of classes similar to those at Hogwarts, only slightly more advanced. For example: in Care of Magical Creatures, instead of learning about Flobberworms, they worked with Dragons. And for Transfiguration, they worked on Animagi forms, though the majority of the students failed.  
  
"You cannot expect to get this the first time," their teacher had told them.  
  
Three weeks passed by, bringing them into the end of October. They would be given Halloween off as a treat, but that didn't exempt them from homework.  
  
"It's going to be Halloween already," Draco commented, picking up his books and standing up from his desk.  
  
"Things are going by a lot quicker now, thanks to the continuous work." Hermione followed Draco out of the classroom and across the grounds.  
  
"Ha! Continuous work? I've been waiting for a day off since God knows when," Draco replied, walking past the guard at the guard at the entrance of the training grounds. "And besides, you've been working non-stop, I've labeled you as a haphazard when you're studying, because you're likely to explode if you're disturbed."  
  
"I do not!" Hermione protested, holding her head high. "It's just important to keep up the work, otherwise-"  
  
"Otherwise you'll get bad grades and you'll fail!" Draco finished for her, in a high voice. "I know, I know. All I was saying, is that this is going to be an extra long weekend, because today is Wednesday, right?" Draco asked. Hermione nodded. "Then we'll have tomorrow, that's Thursday, then Friday, Saturday, and Sunday."  
  
"Yes, and your point is.what exactly?" she asked.  
  
"We should go do something. It is Halloween after all."  
  
"That sounds fine, but what do you have in mind? We're constantly eating out, so that's not any special, and we've already had a go at the pool, and that had bad results."  
  
"Well," he started. "I don't have much in mind yet, but do you know of any large cities nearby?"  
  
"Large cities?" Hermione said thoughtfully. "There must be something nearby. I'll ask the service counter when we get back to the hotel. He might know of something nearby. If we do find a city though, what do you have in mind? Movie theaters, theme parks-"  
  
"Hermione, I really don't have a clue of what you are talking about."  
  
"Oh my gosh that's right! You've never been to any of those! We'll do movies tonight!" she said excitedly.  
  
"Ok, you're starting to-" he began.  
  
"Scare you?" Hermione laughed.  
  
"No dimwit, you're starting to sound mental."  
  
"I'm not mental," she protested. "Movies are muggle things."  
  
"Muggles?" Draco replied, a blank look on his face. "Movies? Ok, you're really confusing me now."  
  
"Trust me, you'll see what I mean in a bit," Hermione replied. She gazed off, looking at the cloudy sky, which was expectant to bring more snow. Over the period of three weeks, they had received twelve inches, and every tree, every building, and every sidewalk was covered in a blanket of white glittery flakes. The sky was a dark grey, the sun concealed by a cluster of ominous clouds. All the birds had left the area, due to the snow. Hermione hugged her coat tighter to herself, but the cold air still stung her fingertips and her nose.  
  
"I hate to interrupt your profound thinking, but we've been standing in front of the hotel for nearly five minutes." Hermione's head snapped up, and she looked wildly around herself.  
  
"Oh yes, that's right," she said, stepping inside the hotel gratefully, glad to give her ears and nose a chance to defrost. The hotel was warm and toasty, lit by many fires and candles. Elegantly dressed people crowded it, and they chattered happily. Hermione smiled as a group of young children ran by, chasing after a girl on a runaway broomstick, which hovered only so many feet off the ground, so that her toes were grazing the floor. She spotted the service desk.  
  
"There! The service desk is right over there," she said pointing in the direction of the counter.  
  
"Wait, hold on a minute," Draco said quickly. "Is this the guy who was going on and on about 'ze card key, 'ze dinner 'all, ze-"  
  
"Ok Draco, that's enough," Hermione replied. She cautiously approached the service counter, with Draco sulking behind her. "Excuse me, I have a question," she said. A short, bald man spun around.  
  
"What iz 'ze question?" he asked, in his thick French accent. Hermione heard Draco make a noise of impatience behind her, and mutter something about 'ze stupid man'. She rolled her eyes.  
  
"Excuse my friend, he's a bit daft today." She turned around and glared at him, and he raised his hands in a 'what-am-I-doing-wrong' manner. "I was wondering. Are there any large muggle cities nearby?"  
  
"Why yes, there iz a city tha's just fifteen minutes away from 'ere. You can take one of our carragees out fer five sickles."  
  
"What do you think Draco?"  
  
"Whatever pleazeez you, m'dear," Draco said, imitating the man.. Hermione scowled.  
  
"That'd be great," Hermione said, taking out five sickles form her purse and handing them to the man. He took them and placed them in his pocket, and then he wrote out a ticket and handed it to her. She quickly grabbed Draco by the upper arm and steered him away, as he was now waving mockingly at the man. She led him to the lift and they stepped on, Hermione pressing the thirtieth floor button.  
  
"Why do you need to terrorize the poor guy?" she asked. Draco shrugged, leaning against the wall.  
  
"It's fun to impersonate people, you should try it sometime," he grinned.  
  
"Oh I can impersonate someone," she said. She took careful note of his stance, and then she too leaned against the wall. She crossed her arms, and then her ankles, and then she held her chin high. "See?" she grinned.  
  
"I do not look like that," he scowled. He walked over to her and placed his hand on her chin, tilting it downward and more to the side. "Perhaps if you did this," he began, grabbing both of her arms and repositioning them, leaving her mouth open in shock. "There, now you look a little like me." He walked back over and leaned against the opposite wall. Hermione stood stock-still, her mouth still open. He caught sight of her gaze.  
  
"What, now are you trying to impersonate a fish-out-of-water? Because you're doing a good job."  
  
"Oh, no, not really," she said, as the lift's marble doors opened with a ding, revealing the top floor. Hermione walked past Draco and he followed. She took out the card key and slid it through the slot. The door opened and Hermione stepped inside, nearly closing the door itself on Draco.  
  
"Watch it," he mumbled, closing the door behind him. Hermione was about to wander into her closet, when she stopped dead, dropping her purse and jacket involuntarily.  
  
"What is it?" Draco asked, dropping his things on her bed. But he caught sight of a small, ripped piece of parchment that had been pinned to the wall.  
  
I'm watching you.  
  
***  
  
"Hermione, you're overreacting," Draco said. She emerged from the closets wearing a low, red V-necked sweater and casual jeans.  
  
"I'm not overreacting! You're so casual about everything! We need to take this note someplace and see if we can get the writer revealed!" she said frantically. "Somebody has been watching us!"  
  
"I'm watching you now," Draco replied. Hermione's mouth went open in shock.  
  
"Why do you have to make a joke about everything?! This could be serious!"  
  
"Yes, I agree with you on one thing, it could be serious: a serious prank. It was probably just a bunch of students looking to cook up something interesting to spread around. They may be older than us, but look at Aubrey and Lambert! They're only three or four years older, and they've still got those teenage years in them, so maybe somebody like them did it."  
  
"But I want to check, just to make sure!" she protested. "Maybe it's a hint, a warning!"  
  
"All right!" Draco responded, throwing his hands up. "Do whatever pleases you."  
  
"Thank you," Hermione said, grabbing her purse and jacket. She was about to walk out the door when she stopped. "Are you coming or not?"  
  
"What, you mean you're still going?" Draco asked in disbelief. "Knowing you, you'd normally be sulking on your bed, trying to figure out whatever it is that's bothering you."  
  
"Well today's an exception," Hermione said sweetly, giving him an annoying smile. "Look, I'll understand if you'd rather not go, but whatever floats your boat is fine with me." She watched him, as he sat quietly for a minute. But then he stood up and grabbed his jacket and wallet.  
  
"Ok, I'll go, but these movies had better be as good as you say they are."  
  
They went down into the lobby and handed the man at the counter their ticket. Then, he led Draco and Hermione to a small area outside, where there were four carriages.  
  
"'ey Joe!" the man yelled. A very tall, skinny man came out from behind one of the horses. "I've got two of 'em 'ere who'd like a ride." The man, apparently named Joe, waved to Hermione, and she awkwardly waved back.  
  
"I'll take em wherever they'd like to go," he said, in an accent similar to his friends, but not as thick.  
  
"They'll be 'eaded to Brussels, the muggle town jus' fi'teen minutes from 'ere," the service counter man informed him, and 'Joe' nodded knowingly.  
  
"Just step right up here, yes, there ya go miss, and we'll be along in jus' five minutes. Still gotta hook me horses up." He disappeared behind them, and Hermione stepped up into the carriage. The interior was done in purple silk, and the seats were cushiony. Draco followed Hermione and sat down across from her.  
  
"Must be an ideal snogging place," Draco commented, noticing that in a few places, the silk was torn.  
  
"This is going to be a lot of fun," Hermione assured him, trying to get the topic off of snogging. She didn't want him getting any crazy ideas.  
  
"Alrighty, I just finished hooking up the horses. Ready to go now, are ye?"  
  
"Yes, we'd like to get moving before it gets any later," Hermione said quickly. Something about Joe made her uneasy. Maybe it was just his appearance. The carriage moved forward with a jolt, which sent Hermione flying into Draco's lap. Draco looked down at her calmly.  
  
"You seem to have this tendency to go flying into people don't you?" he said. Hermione looked up and her face was beet red.  
  
"Very funny," she replied bitterly, as he grabbed her upper arm and pulled her up. She sat back down on the seat and kept her gaze fixed on the scenery outside. They had left the city already, and were traveling through a long stretch of road that went right through a huge field of hills. The sky outside was getting darker and darker, and she even saw lightning flash in the distance. She poked her head out of the window.  
  
'How soon until we get there?" she yelled.  
  
"Fifteen minutes as I told ye before. By the way, where do ye want me to drop ye off at?" he yelled.  
  
"The theater!" Hermione yelled back. "Do you know where it is?"  
  
"Go there all the time, of course I know where it is." Hermione brought her head back inside but kept her gaze on the window. Draco folded his arms and began tapping his foot against the carriage wall. Hermione noticed this and stretched her legs out, stopping his foot with her own. He looked up at her and she met his gaze.  
  
"Bee in your bonnet?" she asked sweetly, and somewhat annoyingly.  
  
"Not really," he replied, pulling his foot out from under hers. "I was just thinking, as usual." Hermione nodded slowly, and then drew her legs back in, looking out of the window again. Draco took this time as an advantage to look at her closely. She looked fairly healthy, but there was something about her that made her different from the girl she was, back in third year, when he had dipped her hair in ink. Of course she had matured, he thought glancing at her figure. Her hair was still brown and bushy, her eyes chocolate brown, her smile radiant and glowing. Even when he had hated her, (not that he felt any different now, he added mentally) he had still thought her to be beautiful, in her own strange way. But the thing that was different about her was something emotionally, not physically. Perhaps it was just because she was dating Potter. Or perhaps it was because of the training. Whatever it was, he just couldn't put a finger on it. Somehow, Hermione felt his gaze and she slowly looked at him.  
  
"What is it? Is my hair messed up or something?" she asked, patting her hair down self-consciously.  
  
"Nope, nothing's wrong," Draco replied softly. Hermione gave him a confused look before resuming her intent gaze on the scenery outside.  
  
"It's beautiful isn't it," she said, tilting her head to the side to look at it in a different perspective. "The snow, the sunset, the air-"  
  
"Before you get all profound on me," Draco interrupted, causing her to glare at him. "Let me just point out that we're nearly there." He leaned over and pointed to the horizon. Large buildings were lined against the sky in an orderly manner, making them look like glowing matchboxes. Hermione even spotted a few cars, which were traveling across the many streets. Joe spoke from outside, almost as if he had heard their conversation.  
  
"Here we are now!" They passed a large estate, with a mansion twice the size of the Great Hall; with it's neatly trimmed and pruned flowerbeds. Then they passed a section of small suburban homes, all the windows illuminated by the glowing lights inside; some of them even had televisions in the living room. Others had computers. After this, they got into the outskirts of the city, which was fairly nice, except they passed a few burly-looking men, who watched them carefully as they rode by. Finally, they reached dead center in the middle of the city. Joe parked the carriage right next to a fire hydrant in front of the theater.  
  
"Here ye are, watch your step, and enjoy Brussels. When ye decide to come back, you'll find me right over there," Joe said, pointing to a very mature looking bar, "and I'll take ye home."  
  
"Thank you very much," Hermione replied, beginning to step down from the carriage but wobbling along the way. Draco's hand shot out involuntarily, and she grabbed it gratefully, stepping down onto the ground, straightening her jacket. Draco hopped down and closed the door with a click.  
  
"Alright, here's the theater, and we can go inside now," Hermione said quickly, wrapping her jacket tighter around herself. Draco went first, walking in through the marble doors. Hermione followed, but she nearly walked into Draco. He had stopped right in front of the doors, his mouth open. "Draco?" she asked. "Hey!" She tapped him on his shoulder and he looked down at her. "What's the matter?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, nothing," he replied, moving forward a bit so she could completely get inside the building. Hermione removed her jacket and shook the snowflakes out of it. She walked over to a wall where they had a display of posters, scanning the titles. Draco came over, his head tilted towards the ceiling, gazing at the different things to see.  
  
"Which one do you want to see?" Hermione asked, running her hand through her wet hair.  
  
"Which one? I don't understand-"  
  
"Each one of these posters describes a little about each movie. Just.pick one that looks interesting," she explained. Draco walked a few more inches down the wall. He stopped.  
  
"This one looks good," he grinned. Hermione glanced at the poster and made a choking noise.  
  
"Anything but that one."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Draco. It's a movie about female life guards, with fake hair, fake nails, fake-"  
  
"Breasts?" Draco offered. Hermione glared.  
  
"99.9% of the time, yes. Now just pick a different poster."  
  
"All right, fine," Draco scowled. He stopped again in front of a different one. "Hey, what about this one?"  
  
"That probably wouldn't be too bad," Hermione responded. It looked like a good adventure film, maybe even with a bit of romance and drama and mystery. Definitely good for a first time. She glanced at the rating. "Rated R?" she wondered aloud.  
  
"R?" Draco scratched his head.  
  
"It means the movie is for a mature audience, normally at or over the age of seventeen."  
  
"Ooh!" Draco's eyes got bigger. "Yeah let's do that one." Hermione walked past Draco, taking out her purse and walking up to the ticket counter.  
  
"Could we have two tickets please for the showing at seven o'clock?" she asked. The woman behind the counter typed something on her computer and then handed her the tickets. Hermione snapped open her purse and was about to hand the woman the money, but she accidentally dropped it and her money spilled out onto the counter.  
  
"Oh I'm sorry about that," she mumbled, trying to gather the money together. The woman picked up one of her coins and stared at it curiously.  
  
"What's this?" Hermione's head jerked up, and she caught sight of what was in the woman's hand. Her eyes grew wide.  
  
"Nothing!" she said quickly, grabbing it out of her hand. She had picked up one of her galleons, which was roughly the size of a muggle car's hubcap. "Some candy they've just come out with. Huge isn't it?" Hermione nervously shoved the money into the woman's hand, took the tickets, and firmly took Draco by the arm, steering him backwards. She let his arm go once they had put a bit of a distance between the woman at the counter and themselves. Draco just grinned.  
  
"You overreact too much, has anyone ever told you that?"  
  
"Yeah, and I believe his name is Draco," Hermione said thoughtfully. "Cut the sarcasm and let's get into the theater to get good seats. Actually, maybe we should get snacks. You want popcorn?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nevermind. I'll go get some snacks, you stay here." Draco planned on watching Hermione, but the crowd engulfed her and he couldn't see her anymore. Sighing, he sat down on one of the benches nearby, putting his face in his hands. Damn muggles have to make everything so complicated, he thought to himself. Electricity, movies, cars: when would they finally be smart enough to realize that a completely different world is right in front of their eyes?  
  
"Draco!" somebody shouted. He lifted his face out of his hands and looked up. Hermione was standing in front of him, looking oddly radiant, due to the lights in back of her. "Come on, let's get some good seats," she said, handing him a large bag of slimy, buttery popcorn. He stared at it for a minute.  
  
"You know, this stuff looks familiar," Draco said thoughtfully. "It looks like something my mum rubs on her face every morning."  
  
"Oh please, stop being so sarcastic. Like I said before, let's go get some seats."  
  
"Seats? What seats?" He followed her down a long hall with many large doors. "Uhh, Hermione?" he asked, as he heard the bass of one of the movies make the walls tremble. "What exactly are these things supposed to do?"  
  
"Trust me, I think you'll love it." She glanced down at the tickets and then at one of the doors. "Ahh, right here." She pushed it open, and Draco followed. The room was dark, lit only by a few lights along the stadium-seating isles. Hermione picked the middle row and sat down. Draco copied her actions. He picked up one of the popcorn kernels and chewed on it thoughtfully.  
  
"Draco stop," Hermione said. "You don't eat those." She instead pointed to the fluffy popcorn itself. Draco flung the kernel at a woman in front of him, and it landed in her hair. Hermione fought very hard not to laugh. She watched as he picked some popcorn up and stuff it into his mouth. He looked skeptical for a minute, before he began to eat more.  
  
"I guess it's good then?" she asked, with a small laugh.  
  
"It's ok," Draco said unconvincingly, shoving more popcorn into his mouth.  
  
"And that has to be the biggest understatement of the year." Hermione checked her watch and then leaned back in her chair. The theater was as silent as a library.  
  
"Umm, Hermione?" Draco whispered. "I hate to break this 'moment-of- silentness' stuff, but what exactly are we waiting for?" He was looking up at the black screen, and then at the people in back of him. "Are they waiting too?"  
  
"We're waiting for the movie to start. It's 6:57, so it should start within three minutes, but you never can tell exactly when it'll start, sometimes they're a little late."  
  
"Who's late?"  
  
"The people, or muggles, who put the roll of film on so we can watch the movie. Imagine pictures in the wizarding world; they move right?"  
  
"Yeeeah," Draco said slowly, clearly not seeing where this conversation was going.  
  
"Well, muggle movies are pictures that move, only with sound. Do you understand?"  
  
"Well, I still don't get the whole film thing, but-" He was cut off when a loud crunching noise went through the theater. The screen went white, and all of a sudden, the film started playing. Draco threw his popcorn in the air when it first started, making the people in front scowl and move down a couple of seats. "Bloody hell." Hermione practically choked on her own popcorn at his faces and his statements. He did this throughout the entire movie, making comments whenever somebody did something stupid, laughing louder than anyone else at the comical parts, and he even sat through an entire passionate love-making scene Hermione was too embarrassed to watch, so she peeked at him frequently through her fingers (the noise was proof enough to tell that the characters in the movie were still at it). After many heart-fluttering, tear-jerking, and scream-suppressing scenes, the movie ended. Draco left the theater in a daze, and twice he needed Hermione to stand him upright.  
  
"Well. What did you make of it?" Hermione asked, one hand still on his arm, in case he decided to walk diagonally again. He opened his mouth to speak, but only a small laugh came out. "I take it that's good?"  
  
"It was much better than I thought it would be," he replied, after a few more minutes. "It was.fantastic actually."  
  
Hermione grinned. "Good. There are plenty more movies out there to see, you'll have a blast trying to watch them all." She sighed, getting out her jacket again. "I think this is plenty for tonight."  
  
"What?"  
  
"We should get going. It is-," she began, checking her watch, "approximately 9:30. Given the fact that we have homework, and the rest of the weekend to do things like this, we should probably get back to the hotel."  
  
"Yes, I suppose you right. Most of the time you are, ya know," he pointed out, prodding her in the back, a gesture for her to begin moving.  
  
"Aww, how sweet," Hermione teased, pulling her jacket and gloves on and pushing the heavy marble doors open. Draco stepped outside first, the snow crunching beneath his heavy black shoes. He shielded his eyes from a flurry of snowflakes that had just descended from the sky, and he looked wildly around.  
  
"Uhh, Hermione.where's the carriage?" he asked slowly. Hermione appeared beside him, holding her purse in front of her face, blocking the snowflakes out as well.  
  
"Oh great," she muttered. "Joe?"  
  
"Check the bar, maybe he's there," Draco suggested.  
  
"But the carriage," Hermione said weakly.  
  
"Come on, we're not helping the situation any by freezing to death, so let's move." She obediently walked across the street, Draco following, and into the bar. The air was thick with smoke, and she coughed violently when they entered. She glanced around the bar, squinting her stinging eyes against the smoke, looking for any sign of Joe.  
  
"Aha, there he is," Draco said. They walked over to the other side of the bar to the carriage driver. He had six empty brandy glasses in front of him, and he was downing a seventh.  
  
"Mr. Joe," Hermione said furiously. He turned to look at her and his eyes crossed.  
  
"Hello mum! What are you doing here?" he asked stupidly.  
  
"I am not your mum!" she practically shouted, but Draco stopped her by placing a gloved hand on her shoulder. Then he seized the carriage driver by his shirt collar and yanked him off of his stool, holding him a few inches off the ground.  
  
"Where is the carriage," Draco asked slowly. Joe appeared to be thinking very hard, but the only response he came up was something about more brandy. Draco tried to ignore the woman dancing in front of him, who was casting him flirty looks. He dropped Joe to the floor, wiping his hands on his trousers.  
  
"He's too drunk, he probably didn't do anything with it. But that only leaves the possibility that it was stolen. But who would steal a carriage?" he asked in disbelief. Hermione shrugged and sank down onto one of the bar chairs.  
  
"We'll have to find some other way to get home then," she replied, sighing. "But what other way is there? We can't rent a taxi cab, because they wouldn't be able to drive us directly into the town, and I don't want to risk looking strange, when we ask the driver to drop us off in the middle of a field."  
  
"The Knight Bus?" Draco suggested. "Or broomsticks. But those are awfully slow-."  
  
"Hermione?" someone asked. She spun around in the direction of the speaker. Draco turned to look too, and cursed under his breath.  
  
"Jonathan," she replied weakly. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"The chap must be a stalker Hermione, he turns up wherever you go," Draco muttered. Hermione elbowed him in the stomach, and Draco shrugged, a scowl on his face.  
  
"I just dropped by for a drink. Fancy seeing you.erm, here," Jonathan said, indicating the scantily dressed waitresses in revealing maid suits.  
  
"Oh!" Hermione stuttered, turning a brilliant shade of pink. "We-I mean, Draco and I-just got back from the theaters. When we got out, though, our carriage was missing, and our driver." she paused, looking at the crumpled Joe on the floor, "erm, he's temporarily inactive. We don't have any way to get back to the hotel."  
  
Jonathan dismissed this statement with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry, I brought my car. I'll give you a lift, I'm heading that way anyway." Hermione's eyes must have bugged out, because he laughed. "I am muggle born after all."  
  
"Oh, are you sure it wouldn't inconvenience you in any way?" Hermione asked worriedly.  
  
"Hermione. The man just said he could give us a lift. Would he have offered, if he was disinclined?" Draco pointed out. This earned him another elbow in the stomach, and he went respectively silent.  
  
"No, it's no trouble at all. But what, may I ask, will become of your driver?" Jonathan asked, nudging the limp Joe with his boot.  
  
"He's a drunken git, it's his fault, and it's his problem, so we're just not going to worry about it," Draco said sternly.  
  
"All right, if you say so," Jonathan said, with a small laugh. He drank the rest of his beverage and set it down with a clink. "Best be on our way then, it's getting late, and colder." Hermione and Draco followed him out of the bar. "I've parked it just down here," Jonathan yelled over the traffic. "Go ahead and get in." Hermione climbed into the front seat, forcing Draco to take the back (he wasn't very happy about this). Jonathan took a seat in the front and closed the door quickly.  
  
"Thank you so much," Hermione said sweetly. "It's so good of you to do this for us."  
  
"As I said before, it's really no inconvenience to me. I was just about to head out when--." He was interrupted when Draco coughed abruptly and intentionally. "Yes, best be off." He turned on the ignition. The car stalled for a few seconds, before firing completely up.  
  
"I loved our last lesson," Hermione said politely, taking her gloves off and holding her hands up against the heater. "The one about the Death Eaters."  
  
"I had a hunch you'd enjoy it. It's half the reason I wrote it up," Jonathan replied. Hermione turned pink and looked at her lap.  
  
"That was nice of you."  
  
"You know you've been thanking me an awful lot," Jonathan replied, a small smile on his face. Hermione smiled back. He looked absolutely charming in the dim light, his dirty blonde hair catching the light on the dashboard and giving him a glowing look. His dark brown eyes shone warmly at her, and before she had a chance to gaze at him any longer, he turned away. Draco noticed Hermione's intent concentration on the 'Lambert-git', and he rolled his eyes, folding his arms. Her voice echoed in his head. Are you saying I fancy him? Good God Draco, the man must be at least twenty-one. And he's a teacher. I'd be stupid to fall in love with a teacher. And besides, I have Harry don't I?  
  
"Yes, I suppose you do have Potter," he said quietly, but harshly. Hermione turned to look at him.  
  
"Did you say anything Draco?" she asked.  
  
"Nope, not a word."  
  
***  
  
"Thank you, once again, and again and again, for dropping us off," Hermione said thankfully. "Is there any way we can repay you?" Jonathan just smiled.  
  
"You've already repaid me with your smile. Now hurry up and get inside before you freeze to death. Go on!" He waved his hand dismissingly at Draco and Hermione, and they turned to leave, but not before Hermione waved goodbye. They heard Jonathan pull away and drive off.  
  
"He is such a good person," Hermione said dreamily. Draco remained silent, which was a good thing too, otherwise he'd probably have spat something out such as 'Don't forget to send me a wedding invitation, or What will Potty say?'. Hermione noticed his silence and she put her hands on her hips. "You've been silent the whole drive home, Draco Malfoy. Now, would you tell me what's wrong?" Draco didn't reply, he just kept walking. "Draco!" Hermione pleaded. He stopped abruptly.  
  
"What?" he said harshly. Hermione looked taken aback.  
  
"Umm.nothing, I changed my mind." She didn't say anything else, not even when they were in the lift, or at the door to their hotel room. Draco unlocked the door and entered, falling onto his bed and closing his eyes. Hermione went into her closet, changing into her light blue pajamas. When she came out, she was already dressed for bed.  
  
"Going down early?" Draco asked quietly.  
  
"Maybe. I'll probably just read for a bit and then tuck in. What about you?"  
  
"Same here," he replied tonelessly. Hermione pulled the sheets down so she could climb in. She was about to adjust her pillows, when she caught sight of a parchment. She pulled it out from underneath the pillows.  
  
"Harry." she said quietly. Draco lifted his head off of the mattress.  
  
"Did you say Harry?"  
  
"No, why would I say Harry?"  
  
"No reason."  
  
"Ok."  
  
They were silent for the next couple of minutes, Hermione turning the pages of her book quietly. Draco remained laying on his bed, his eyes closed, one arm draped across his face, shielding his eyes from the light of her candle. When he spoke, it was muffled.  
  
"Hermione?"  
  
She stopped reading and looked up. "Yes?"  
  
"What do you think of Lambert?"  
  
The question was so unexpected; all she could do was think for a minute.  
  
"Think of him as.what exactly?"  
  
"As a human being."  
  
"Well," she began. She found that it was hard to put it into words. "I think he's very sweet, and kind, and caring. He's considerate, thoughtful, easy to get along with-."  
  
"Ok, I get the picture," Draco grumbled.  
  
"Listen, don't get mad at me for answering truthfully," she retorted. "You're just jealous."  
  
"I am not jealous, Ms. Granger," Draco said slyly.  
  
"Ms. Granger?" she echoed. "Ms. Granger? That just sounded.so.weird." Draco burst out laughing, clutching his side as he gasped for air. Hermione began to laugh a little, but then she ended up on the floor with Draco, laughing too, her head resting on his chest.  
  
"I.really have no idea that was so funny," Draco said, after a painful breath of air, making his lungs feel like they were about to explode.  
  
"I was laughing because you were laughing," Hermione said breathlessly, her cheeks pink. "It's just the way you said Granger.you sounded like Snape being run through a dry cleaner."  
  
"Snape and a dry cleaner? There's a good mental image." He suddenly realized how close she was to him, and he began to grow shifty. She felt him move under her head.  
  
"What is it?" she asked. But she too saw how close she was to him. She stood up, her cheeks still pink, though not from the laughing anymore.  
  
"Well I'm going to get into bed, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," Hermione said, scratching the back of her head awkwardly.  
  
"Yeah, you're probably right.again." She scrambled underneath the covers, blowing her candle out after making sure Draco made it to his bed.  
  
"Goodnight," she muttered absentmindedly, not really paying attention to whom she was speaking. Draco paused.  
  
"Night."  
  
***  
  
Author's Note: Woah! I'm already done with chapter four? Things are going so smoothly; you guys don't have to wait long for these chapters. I suppose I should spend more time on them, I just don't want things to move too slow, or too fast. But I'll write at my own pace, thank you very much. Thanks to Draco's Gurl, my beta, for looking everything over. Next chapter: we learn some interesting things about Draco and Hermione; we see more of Aubrey; it's Halloween; looonnnggg weekend; homework.  
  
The Makings of an Auror Chapter 05  
  
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The fog was so thick; Draco could hardly see where he was going. He briefly thought of using his wand as a light, but he thought better of it, as there could be anything lurking in the trees. He blindly reached out, his wand in one hand, feeling his way around low branches and thick tree trunks. Something moved on his left and he jumped, bumping his shoulder against a sharp branch. Cursing, he put his wand in his pocket and went to free himself of the branch. He seized it and pulled roughly, ignoring the thorns that were slicing the soft flesh of his palms. When he was no longer caught in the tree, his glance flickered down to his shoulder, which was steadily bleeding. Cursing again, he continued forward.  
  
"Hermione?" he whispered hoarsely, his voice cracking from tension and angst. Draco tried to ignore the audible pounding of his heart, banging against his ribcage. "Hermione, can you hear me?" The pain in his shoulder had been increasing, and he figured either there was still some thorns in there, or that the tree he had impaled himself on had poisonous leaves. He was about to sit down when something glittery slid in-between his legs, disappearing beneath the thick brake. But something else was bothering him. Twice, he thought he saw a pair of red eyes gleaming out from beneath the bushes. Staggering back, he grabbed his wand and made his way backwards, but his foot caught on a branch, and he stumbled out into a clearing.  
  
"Draco!" someone shouted, running up to him and dropping his or her lantern. The speaker gently took his face in their hands, brushing his sweaty hair out of his face.  
  
"Are you ok?" they asked.  
  
"Shoulder's busted," he replied shortly. "Are you Hermione?"  
  
But something prevented the person from responding. There was a short, stifled scream, and Draco spun around. He came face to face with.  
  
***  
  
Draco awoke so suddenly and abruptly that he cried out. He glanced wildly around the room, his hand clutching his shoulder, his breathing rapid. Breathing a deep sigh of relief, he lay back down on his bed, trying to slow the rush of adrenalin that was surging though his veins. He blinked a few times and looked to his left at the large, luminous alarm clock on the dresser. It read 6:15. Sighing again, he got out of bed, his feet hitting the cushiony carpeting. Silently thanking God for the carpet and not a stone floor, he walked over to Hermione's bed, his hand still clutching his shoulder. A small smile crept across his face as he approached her bed.  
  
She had gotten the bed sheets twisted, and they were crumpled at her feet. She had drawn her legs up to her chest, her hand drawn across her hip, her legs oddly white in the darkness. Her hair was a tangled mess, splayed out across her pillow, her other hand underneath it. Her mouth was slightly open, her eyelids fluttering, her fingers twitching every now and then. Draco was tempted to reach out and run his hand against her cheek, but he thought better of it, remembering the time she had nearly scared him out of his wits by doing that. Instead, he leaned very close, so close his lips almost grazed her ear, and he whispered,  
  
"Good morning."  
  
The effect of these two words was instant. Hermione rolled over, stretching, and she opened her eyes slowly. The first thing she saw was Draco, and how close he was to her. She started.  
  
"What are you doing?" she asked incredulously, her eyes growing wide.  
  
"Nothing, just waking you up," Draco replied quickly. He suddenly felt very stupid, having done such a thing, and he backed a couple of inches away from her. Hermione sat up.  
  
"It's 6:16?" she muttered sleepily, the dark circles under her eyes standing out against her skin. "Why did you wake me up?  
  
"Erm," he began. Yes, he was very stupid. "I was going to head down to breakfast, and was just curious to know if you wanted to come."  
  
"Is something the matter?" Hermione asked slowly. "You look all.bothered."  
  
"I'm fine," Draco replied irritably. "Like I said before, I was just going down to breakfast. Do you want to come or not?" Hermione paused. Draco's being thoughtful. What's wrong with this picture?  
  
"Amazingly, that's very thoughtful of you, but it would have been better if you could have just saved me a piece or two of toast. I'll come now," she added hastily, seeing his face contort, "since you've already woken me up." She shakily got out of bed, yawning and stretching at the same time. "Oh, and Draco.I think it'd be best if you went down to breakfast in something other than your boxers," she muttered sheepishly. Draco looked down, and indeed, he was wearing only a pair of boxers.  
  
"Oh, yeah I was planning on doing that," he said, trying very hard not to turn red. Hermione walked past him, a confused look on her face.  
  
"Are you sure you're ok?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Positive?"  
  
"Yes Hermione!" he responded. "I already have one mum, I don't need another."  
  
"Alright, just checking," she replied defensively. "You'd think I was asking you to strip and dance in front of me."  
  
"As much fun as that sounds, I think I'll pass." He walked into the closet, blindly felt around for a shirt and trousers (it didn't really matter what he picked, as nearly everything he owned was black). He absentmindedly ran a brush though his hair, willing himself to stay awake and keep going. But his thoughts kept straying to his dream. He hadn't had a dream like that in quite awhile, excluding the one about a beach party, involving lots of coconuts, women, and bamboo shacks. There was something so real about it, that it made him almost wonder if it really hadn't been a dream, and it had been real. But there was only one thing that kept him from believing that. In his dream, he had injured his shoulder. But looking down at his shoulder before he had put his shirt on, there was only the tip of the original scar that ran clear down to his waist, and nothing else. His thoughts were interrupted when Hermione sang out,  
  
"Are we going to breakfast, or are you just going to stand there and admire yourself all day?" Draco grumbled irritably under his breath.  
  
"Keep your knickers on, I'm practically done." He set his brush back down on the counter and came out of the closet. Hermione had thrown on an old pair of jeans and a shirt, and her hair was messily pulled back into a ponytail.  
  
"Finally. I was just about to start worrying that you had passed out or something in the bathroom."  
  
"What, from looking in the mirror? It's hard to believe that I haven't given in to my own charms." Hermione rolled her eyes and stifled a yawn, walking out into the halls.  
  
"Today is Halloween," she announced.  
  
"It is, isn't it," Draco replied, fixing the button on his shirtsleeve. Hermione jerked her head at the decorations on the walls. A long border of pumpkins and black cats had been lined near the top of the ceiling. The cats watched Draco and Hermione as they walked by, their eyes catching the light and turning a different color.  
  
"You seem out of it," Hermione said abruptly. "You woke me up using the oddest technique, you've failed to notice it's Halloween, and you've still got your usual sarcastic response for everything. Did you have some dream last night?"  
  
"Oh yeah, I did, and we were at the zoo, and we were petting the cave monkeys." He gave her an annoying grin, and she sighed.  
  
"Seriously, did you?" Draco was thoughtful for a moment. He wondered if he should tell her of the dream. But an image popped up in his head. He saw Hermione running around in a library, pulling out books on diviners and dream travelers, scolding him for not telling her sooner and frantically rushing off to find some unexplainable and incurable symptoms of a stupid disease.  
  
"No, I didn't have any dreams last night. And please don't say 'Are you sure'," he said, because Hermione had opened her mouth. "I think I would have known if I had a dream last night." Hermione looked skeptical, and Draco sighed. "What can I do to prove it to you?"  
  
"There is a spell." Hermione began. Draco's fists clenched.  
  
"A spell?" he said nervously, trying to keep is voice neutral. Hermione laughed.  
  
"Oh the look on your face. No, there is no spell; I'll just have to believe you. Strangely enough, I've been feeling confident enough to do that." She gave him a small smile, which he did not return.  
  
The lobby downstairs was deserted, probably because most people had left to go visit relatives or fellow witches and wizards for the holiday. Only a tall, slender woman was standing at the breakfast table.  
  
"They sure packed this place with food," Hermione commented, grabbing a plate and scanning the platters eagerly. There were cinnamon rolls with white, orange, and black frosting, assorted dishes of candies, a large pumpkin cake, innumerable trays of donuts, pitchers of either orange, apple, or grape fruit juice, different colors of bacon and eggs, and much more. Draco looked at the food, and he felt the gnawing pit in his stomach grow stronger, but he just didn't want to eat. In the end, he ended up getting a piece of toast with charmed black butter and jelly, and a coffee. Hermione, however, had her plate stacked high with food.  
  
"Doesn't this look fantastic?" she said, setting her plate down on one of the tables in the room next to Draco. "How come you only got toast? Look at these kippers! Here, go ahead and try some." She indicated a side of her plate where he could take some, but he only shook his head.  
  
"I'm perfectly fine with toast, thank you," Draco responded.  
  
"Alright, go ahead and starve," Hermione retorted, placing her napkin in her lap and taking up her fork and spoon. But she stopped. She seemed on the verge of asking him something, but she stopped, her fork still poised over her food.  
  
"You're still not convinced that I feel fine, are you?" he replied, a sly smile on his face. Hermione bit her lip, a sign he was right on target. "Look at me." He held out his arms, giving her a full view of him. She reluctantly took note of his pale skin, the dark circles under his eyes, and how thin he looked. "Ok, now that you've seen me," he began, taking out his wallet and pulling out a picture. He handed it to her, and she looked at it. It was a picture of Draco, wearing his head boy badge, posing in what she assumed was the Slytherin Common Room. He still had the pale, fair skin, and his eyes had slightly dark circles underneath them, but he still looked healthier in the photo than he did now.  
  
"You carry a picture of yourself in your wallet?" Hermione asked, disbelief in her voice. Draco snatched the photo away and tucked it back inside his wallet. Hermione sighed. "You look better in the photo," she replied quietly, refusing to elaborate. Draco, who was in the middle of drinking his coffee, paused.  
  
"Well what do you want me to do about it?"  
  
"First of all, you're malnourished, get some food in you. And perhaps I could whip up a Dreamless Sleep Drought. You look like you could use a good night's rest."  
  
"All right, if it'll make you happy, I'll eat and sleep. Then will you get off my case?" he teased. Hermione looked thoughtful.  
  
"Not entirely, but it'll help."  
  
Draco threw his hands up. "Done." He grabbed one of her slices of bacon, chewing it noticeably. "Now keep your end of the deal and let me alone."  
  
"Your welcome by the way," she responded cynically. Draco leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up on the table. Hermione scowled. "Draco, people will stare," she frowned. Draco wildly looked around the lobby.  
  
"People? What people?" he put mockingly. The lobby was empty, excluding the woman on the other side of the room. Hermione shifted in her seat.  
  
"It's not very gentlemanlike," Hermione scolded.  
  
"I thought the eating and sleeping part was supposed to get you off of my case," Draco pointed out, his eyebrows raised. Hermione grinned sheepishly.  
  
"All right, all right. Do what pleases you." He leaned back farther visibly, stretching his feet out. "So it's Halloween--."  
  
"And this must be the umpteenth time you've said that today," Draco retorted.  
  
"Quit being an annoying git. All I'm getting at is if we're going to go someplace today."  
  
"I don't know about you, but I'd like to laze around and do homework," he replied, examining his fingernails with a scornful look on his face.  
  
"That sounds fine, unless you'd rather me leave and go do something," she began. Draco looked up at her, a confused look on his face.  
  
"Why would I want you to leave?" he asked calmly. Hermione shrugged.  
  
"We've practically seen each other every waking moment of the day, so I figured you might like some time alone," she explained. Draco carelessly plunked three sugar cubes into his coffee.  
  
"No, it's fine. I've gotten used to you and your strange habits anyway; I really don't care anymore. As my father used to say: omnia mutantur nos et mutamur in illis. It means 'all things change, and we change with them'."  
  
"Draco, I have a question," Hermione asked slowly.  
  
"Go ahead."  
  
"You never talk about your father, and I was just thinking: is it because you love him so much-or not at all," she asked quietly. Hermione immediately regretted having said it, as his face went white and his eyes were clear of emotion. He was quiet for a few minutes.  
  
"I think it's both," he replied after awhile. "He's so horrible to me, and I hate him for it. But Hermione, he's my father. I just.can't explain it- ." He buried his head in his hands, and Hermione's heart ached for him for a brief second. She didn't know whether to apologize or keep silent. Before she could make up her mind, he sat up, his eyes tearless.  
  
"Draco, I'm sorry for asking-," she began, but he dismissed this with an elegant wave of his hand.  
  
"It doesn't matter. You don't need to apologize."  
  
"It just seemed like you were upset for a moment," she replied carefully.  
  
"I was, and I really don't want to talk about it anymore."  
  
Hermione went respectively silent; her hands in her lap, chewing on her lip. There was something uneasy between them, and she couldn't quite put a finger on it. Maybe it was just the topic of conversation, or maybe it was the weather. The sky was still dark and cloudy, despite the fact that it was nearly 6:45 in the morning, and the sun had already risen. Snowflakes were falling steadily from the sky, layering the already-blanketed ground. It was during times like this, when she was lost in her thoughts that she thought of Harry and Ron. Mostly it was Harry, because she missed him so much, that it hurt even just to envision him. She was already counting down the days when she passed the Auror Camp, and when she's finally be able to be in his arms again. Her thoughts lingered a moment longer on Harry, before they surprisingly moved on to Draco. Hermione wondered if he would still treat her differently, the way he did now, when they were back at Hogwarts. The press would have a field day with their easiness, and she could practically envision Daily Prophet reporters printing out papers that read Slytherin and Gryffindor: a forbidden friendship, or Friends or foes? Students at Hogwarts explore house-relationships. Would he stay on speaking terms with her? Or would he revert back to his old ways. She just couldn't tell.  
  
*** (from Draco's point of view, similar to the paragraph above)  
  
Draco felt strangely at peace as he sat at the breakfast table with Hermione. Well, almost at peace. There was something gnawing at his stomach, and he knew it wasn't from lack of food. Something about the air around Hermione and himself was irresolute, in a disturbingly calming way. He wasn't worried by it, just concerned, that perhaps his father had been right about the old Latin saying: 'all things change, and we change with them'. He didn't feel any different. Perhaps a little, but not entirely different. He didn't hate Hermione, that's for sure. But he wasn't worshipping the ground she walked on either. His thoughts went from Hermione to his dream. He recalled the night when Hermione had had her dream.damn, he thought. There I go thinking about her again. He remembered her saying that Voldemort had killed someone, and that it had been him, Draco. Then again, it could have been in a completely different situation. He'd have to ask her sometime.  
  
"Hey Hermione," Draco said, breaking the uneasy silence between them. She looked up.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Do you remember having a dream, on the second night we were here?" Draco asked. "You know, the one where you woke up, thinking I had died?" Hermione closed her eyes thoughtfully.  
  
"I think I remember a little bit of it," she said, her eyes still closed. "You're injured, and I'm holding this orb-type-thing. It's like we were in the forbidden forest."  
  
"Oh," Draco replied, his heart sinking. "Go on."  
  
"Then somebody steps out into the clearing, and you argue with the person. And then.and then." Hermione opened her eyes. "I think you know the rest." Draco nodded, a serious look of concentration on his face. So her dream roughly took place after mine, he thought sullenly.  
  
"Why do you ask?" Hermione said. Draco shrugged. Her eyes grew wide.  
  
"You didn't have a dream, did you?" she asked quickly yet quietly, glancing uneasily around the room. "Something that fits in with my dream perhaps?"  
  
"Well, sort of," he began. "I didn't see much."  
  
"Well?" Hermione had stopped eating, her whole attention fixed on him. "What was it?"  
  
"Hey, look at the time, it's almost seven. I'd better get upstairs, got loads to do."  
  
"Draco," Hermione began in a warning tone. "Is there something you're not telling me?"  
  
"I'm not telling you lot's of things. I'd love to stay, but I'm teaching my pet ferret to dance." He picked up his coffee and began to walk off.  
  
"You don't have a ferret!" Hermione yelled after him, frowning. Draco just winked at her. "Oh fine," she muttered angrily, pushing her plate away and folding her arms.  
  
***  
  
Having deposited the rest of his coffee in the bathroom sink, Draco sat down on his bed, trying very hard not to think about anything. You'll have to tell her the dream someday. Draco rolled over on his side, pushing the thought away, yet a new one replaced it. You know you love-but he was cut off when Hermione entered the room, a scowl on her face.  
  
"I'm going walking," she declared, picking up her coat, mittens, scarf, and hat. "You can come if you like."  
  
"No, you go right ahead. Maybe I'll join you later," he replied, shooing her off with his hand. Hermione shrugged her shoulders and exited the room. Draco stood up and crossed over to the other side of the room, looking out the window down at the ground below. The people looked like tiny specs of dust, walking along the sidewalks. Once, Draco thought he saw Hermione, but as he was so high up (after all, it was the thirtieth floor), he couldn't really tell. She'd probably still be in the lift anyway. He walked back over to his bed and picked his Arithmancy book. He opened it absentmindedly, and began to read.  
  
Arithmancy is a subject, based on the complicated wizarding math that most people overlook. It can come in handy in two ways: one, it can help the wizard to-  
  
-Snap-. Draco closed the book and put it back on the bed, standing up and running a hand through his perfectly combed hair. Something was on his mind, but he didn't know what it was that was making him so antsy. The dream wasn't bothering him, not at all. And he wasn't angry with Hermione. Maybe he was. He didn't know.  
  
"Homework. Excellent pastime, even if it's dreadfully boring and makes no sense at all," he said aloud. He crossed back over to the dresser and picked up some of the books Hermione had checked out of the library for him. He set them down on his bed, taking up a parchment and quill. Draco was about to begin reading, when he noticed a small, crumpled up piece of paper underneath the books. He picked it up, smoothing it out against the books. When he caught sight of what it was, a letter, and who it was addressed to, he almost put it down. But he thought he saw his name in it, so he decided to read it quickly. It read,  
  
Harry, I know I haven't been writing as often as I promised, but my mum has been in a stage where she needs me to go out and run errands for her. You know, driving the car to the grocery store, picking up medications, etc. But she is definitely getting better. Quidditch practices already? That's rather early. I wonder why they started them so soon.  
  
Draco browsed through the letter, skipping a bunch of 'I miss you' paragraphs and scanning the lines. His own name caught his eye.  
  
You haven't seen Malfoy anywhere? That's strange.I wonder where he went to. Yes, I know you're happy he's gone, but don't think too hard on the subject. You did say he was Quidditch captain right? Man. Oh well, keep hoping he'll stay gone, and that'll do us all a favor. Well I'd better run, mum's calling. Love ya!  
  
Hugs and Kisses, Hermione  
  
Draco sat still, the letter in his hands, the room dead silent. Keep hoping he'll stay gone, and that'll do us all a favor. Of course she hadn't really meant it, had she? They were, after all, supposed to be pretending nothing had happened, and that Hermione was at her mum's house, and that his father needed him. But he wondered if there was some truth to her statement in that letter. No sooner had he thought this, Hermione burst into the room.  
  
"I forgot my purse," she said breathlessly. "Need anything at the--." She stopped, seeing the letter in his hand. "What are you doing.is that my letter?"  
  
"I believe it is," Draco replied bitterly, tossing it onto the floor. Hermione watched as he did this, her purse in her hands, her mouth open.  
  
"You didn't.read it, did you?" she asked slowly, speaking to Draco as if he were a bit dim.  
  
"Maybe." He opened one of the library books. Hermione was still standing very still.  
  
"Do you not have any respect for other people's privacy?" Hermione said harshly, her purse sliding a few inches down her arm. She pulled it back up, frustrated. Draco didn't say anything to this; he just sat reading. Hermione shook her head sadly. "You know what, I don't really care."  
  
"You don't care what you wrote in the letter then?" Draco challenged. Hermione had been about to leave the room, but she paused.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"'Keep hoping he'll stay gone, and that'll do us all a favor'," he recited, with an annoying tone in his voice. "You mean it don't you, otherwise you wouldn't have included it in your letter."  
  
Hermione's mouth went open in shock, a furious look on her face. "Draco, look at the day it was written!" she shouted. "Look at the top, right hand corner, and you'll see when I wrote that letter. That was practically four weeks ago Malfoy. Four weeks. Now if you want to be a.a prat," she continued angrily, words simply failing her, "then you can be one. I don't care. But if you ever try and use this against me, I have proof, that what I wrote four weeks ago on that letter means nothing to me now." And she left the room, leaving Draco feeling stupider than he ever had felt before in his life.  
  
***  
  
Hermione ran out of the hotel, the cold stinging her eyes and mouth, and she didn't stop until she had found an empty alley. She slid down the wall, landing on the cold, stone floor, putting her face in her knees. Damn him, she thought bitterly. Damn him and his stupid hair, and his stupid voice, and his stupid.stupidity! She lifted her face out of knees. Now I'm the stupid one. Stupid for thinking I could trust him.it's his nerve to actually read the letter that made me mad.he should have known that it was personal! Just when I had his trust. she thought. She rested her head against the wall behind her, the dust from the ground getting on her face and mingling with the sweat dripping down her forehead. She wiped her face with the back of her hand, sniffling. The snow had started to seep into her jeans, chilling her to the bone. Hermione looked up at the sky. It had begun to snow again. Doesn't it ever stop snowing? She thought. She stretched out her gloved hands, letting the snowflakes collect and melt on them. I can't avoid him forever, I'll have to go back sooner or later, but I'm going to let him brood for a bit, and then we'll see who's the smarter one.  
  
***  
  
Draco cursed under his breath, shoving the books off of his bed and folding his arms angrily.  
  
"How dare she call me a prat," Draco said aloud, feeling stupid, but very sorry for himself. "If it was such a private letter, than she shouldn't have left it laying around." Yes, he thought satisfactorily to himself. It's her own fault, the careless woman. He rolled over on his bed, gazing up at the ceiling. So much for the 'at peace' feeling. I'll bet right now, she's sitting in an alley, feeling all proud and angry. She can move there and rot, for all I care. But despite his confident thinking, he felt an annoying pang of guilt in his stomach. Oh no, Draco Malfoy. You are not feeling guilt. You did nothing. He sat very still for a minute, but he quickly stood up, grabbing his jacket, and heading out of the hotel.  
  
***  
  
Hermione had her head in her knees again, looking at the snow-covered ground, drawing patterns in the snow. She felt light headed, and she knew she should head back before she got any sicker, but she refused. Stubbornly, she scooted her legs closer to her chest, her chin propped up on her knees. The edges of her vision began to get a little fuzzy. Sighing, she closed her eyes, rubbing her ankles with her gloved hands. She was just about to slip off to sleep, when she heard someone calling her name. Her head immediately perked up.  
  
"Hermione!" she heard someone say. She tried to call back, but her throat had gone hoarse. "Hermione!" The person yelling appeared in the entrance of the alley. She looked up.  
  
It was Draco.  
  
He ran over to her, his cheeks and nose red from the cold. "Hermione, are you ok?" he asked, and she thought she saw something that looked like concern on his face.  
  
"I-I'm fine," she replied weakly, trying to sit up, but she clutched her head and lay back down. "Actually, I take that back." He put his hand behind her head, helping her sit up. Then he seized her upper arms, pulling her into a standing position. She immediately threw her arms around his neck, and for a minute, he thought it was because she couldn't stand, but then he heard her voice against his shoulder.  
  
"I'm so sorry--."  
  
"Hermione, it's fine," Draco replied, patting her back awkwardly. Hermione only tightened her grip around his neck.  
  
"No, it's not. I lost my temper over a stupid letter, and I shouldn't have said the things I said."  
  
"But you didn't do that much. Listen, just calm down." She pulled her face out of his shoulder and looked up at him, her arms still around his neck. Her cheeks were tear-stained, and she looked as if she would start crying again at the slightest bit of speech. Draco pulled one of his gloves off and gently wiped her tears away, surprising Hermione and himself at what he was doing. "You're freezing, let's get you back before you get frostbite." Amazingly, Hermione didn't protest as he led her out of the alley. Instead, she relied on him to keep her moving, stumbling every now and then. Once he had gotten her completely inside the building, up the lift, and into the room, she collapsed.  
  
Perfect timing, he thought wearily. He lifted her, taking her carefully to the large king size bed, rather than putting her on her own small bed. She involuntarily clutched at his arms, as he lowered her down onto the bed. Then, she opened her eyes.  
  
"We're there already?" she asked sleepily. Draco nodded, oddly silent. "Thank you for bringing me back," Hermione said, after a short period of silence. "I probably would still be out there." Draco didn't know how to respond to this, so he remained silent. But pretty soon he stood up.  
  
"I'll be right back, I'm going downstairs to see if they have a potions room, don't go anywhere." He left the room carrying a small, leather bag. About five minutes later, he came back into the room, carrying a vile with some bubbling potion inside it.  
  
"Here," he said, handing it to her. "I whipped up a Pepperup Potion. Oh, and it's bets not if you ask what's in it until afterwards, because I added a few of my own ingredients." Hermione took the vile gingerly and sniffed it, pulling a face.  
  
"It smells horrible," she scowled, but nevertheless, she took a deep breath and drank the whole thing in one gulp. Half a second later, she was coughing and sputtering, her ears steaming.  
  
"What was in that stuff?" she choked out.  
  
"Dragon's blood, vodka, belladonna, wormwood," Draco began. But he stopped when he spotted the look on Hermione's face. "Hey, you asked." Hermione pulled up the bed-sheets and patted the space beside her. He awkwardly sat down next to her, looking very shifty. Hermione looked at him thoughtfully, a small smile on his face. She had never seen him look so uncomfortable before, not even back when Aubrey was flirting with him.  
  
"Thank you for the potion," she said. Draco shrugged.  
  
"It was no problem."  
  
"You know, I must be a psychic, because I had a feeling you were going to say that," she grinned.  
  
"You did, did you?" Draco said, returning her smile back reluctantly. "Hermione," he began, looking very nervous. "I'm really sorry for reading your letter to Potter. I.just wasn't thinking at the time."  
  
"That much," Hermione started, "was obvious."  
  
"Hermione!" Draco moaned. "I'm trying to be nice here!"  
  
"And bravo for you," she replied, applauding quickly. "I accept your apology."  
  
"You do?" Draco asked, a confused look on his face.  
  
"Of course, what are friends for?"  
  
Draco's mouth went open, but he quickly closed it. Hermione inwardly smiled.  
  
"So you'll be all right, won't you?" Draco asked, looking sheepish. Hermione smiled slightly.  
  
"Yes, I'll be just fine." She looked down at her lap, her hands folded. "You.you know I didn't really mean what I wrote in that letter," Hermione continued quietly. "At least I did four weeks ago, but now.I feel horrible for writing it."  
  
"Why didn't you send it?" Draco asked inquisitively.  
  
"Why didn't I send it?" Hermione echoed. "Well, I did send back Harry a letter, but I never mentioned you."  
  
"You love him don't you." Hermione was startled by this question. Draco had a determined look on his faced, and she averted her gaze and stared at her bedpost.  
  
"Yes I do."  
  
"How much?" Draco asked, the determined look being replaced with a blank one.  
  
"Very much."  
  
"So much that you'd be willing to die for him?"  
  
"Draco, I really don't see where this conversation is going," Hermione said promptly. Draco was about to protest, but he closed his mouth.  
  
"Just curious, that's all," he replied, staring at the carpeting.  
  
"You're a very curious person, Draco Malfoy," Hermione grinned. Draco shrugged.  
  
"I suppose I am. There's no law against being curious. Or did I miss that memo?" Hermione rolled her eyes.  
  
"Just as long as you don't go snooping around again. Do it again, and I'll find that velvet-covered book I've been seeing you write in lately and print everything out in the Daily Prophet."  
  
"You can try," Draco replied. "I've got sixteen different locks on it, and once you get past those, you have to use a key, and that key, has about-."  
  
"I believe that I get the basic idea. So your little black velvety book must be a diary."  
  
"I beg to differ."  
  
"A notebook?"  
  
"It's a journal, Hermione. Honestly, a notebook? And I'd have thought that someone with your intelligence would be able to figure that one out," he retorted.  
  
"Journal and diary mean just about the same thing."  
  
"True, but journal is a more masculine word for a diary," Draco said thoughtfully.  
  
"All right, whatever suits you best. I still say it's a diary."  
  
"And I can't believe you're still arguing about this with me."  
  
"I'm not arguing!" Hermione said promptly.  
  
"Of course you are."  
  
"I am not!"  
  
"Then what are we doing now?"  
  
"We're.having a disagreement, that's what," she replied, folding her arms.  
  
"And that has to be the dumbest thing you've said all day." Draco gave her a simpering grin, and she glared.  
  
"I guess you win this one then," Hermione sighed.  
  
"I normally do," Draco assured her.  
  
"Yeah, normally."  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"Make me!" Hermione sneered, in an annoying singsong voice. Draco lunged at her, and she cried out, covering her face with her arms, scrambling to the other side of the bed. But he caught her around the middle, despite her furious punches and kicking. She did get one good hit in, right on his nose, and he lost his balance, toppling to the floor and bringing her down with him. In a disarray of blankets and pillows, Draco felt his nose.  
  
"Granger! What did you do that for?" he scowled, grimacing as he wrinkled his nose. "Hermione?" He shifted one of the pillows and Hermione's face appeared.  
  
"Why'd you attack me?" she challenged.  
  
"Well you told me to make you shut up," he declared, pointing this out as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  
  
"I didn't think you'd actually do it," Hermione grinned. But her expression changed, and she suddenly looked squeamish and slightly panicked.  
  
"What's wrong?" Draco asked.  
  
"Aside from the fact that you're on top of me, very heavy, and cutting of my air supply, everything's fabulous," Hermione said, in a strained voice. Draco glanced down and, just as she said, he was indeed on top of her. But he made no move to get up. "Umm, Draco?" Hermione waved a hand in front of his face. "You can get up now." Their noses were almost touching, Draco's eyes sparked with amusement, Hermione's filled with apprehension.  
  
"Yes, of course," he said, rolling off of her. Hermione sat up, pulling blankets away from herself.  
  
"This has been an interesting day," she said, more to herself than to Draco.  
  
"And might I point out that it's barely eight o'clock?" he responded, checking his watch and flashing it in her direction.  
  
"Eight o'clock?" she echoed weakly.  
  
"So you should have said, 'this has been an interesting morning'. Tsk-tsk Granger, you're forgetting your properness."  
  
"I don't have a shiny designer watch on my wrist, thank you very much," she scowled.  
  
"Oh no, this isn't a designer watch, it's from a French factory in Rome. I bought it there while I was on holiday."  
  
"Fine. I don't have a fancy imported watch on my wrist," she said, correcting herself. Draco unbuckled his watch and slid it off, holding it up to the firelight. Then he took her wrist and snapped the watch on.  
  
"Now you do," he grinned. Hermione gave him a piercing look, but she still held her wrist up, examining it carefully. The watch was just a couple of sizes bigger than her own one. The leather on the inside was warm from where it had been resting against his skin. It had created sort of a mold of his wrist, due to the fact that he wore it nearly everyday. Funny, Hermione thought to herself. How a watch can be so captivating. She slid the watch off, handing it back to him.  
  
"It's beautiful," Hermione told him, extending her hand out farther so he could take it. Draco looked at it thoughtfully for a minute.  
  
"Keep it," he replied.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I said keep it."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"It's a gift, idiot."  
  
"I have received a lot of gifts in my life before, but never one where an insult was thrown along with it."  
  
"I want you to have it," was his short and stubborn reply. "Do I need to spell it out?"  
  
"I'm not mental you know."  
  
"You're doing a real good job of acting it then."  
  
"And you're a real git."  
  
"So much for getting you on my good side," he said, somewhat remorsefully.  
  
"Good side?"  
  
"Yeah, you're supposed to like me now," he teased. Hermione looked down at the watch, a thoughtful smile on her face.  
  
"Of course I like you," she replied. "Even if you hadn't given me this, I still would have anyway."  
  
"You would?" he asked slowly. Hermione looked uncomfortable.  
  
"Well, yeah. I mean, it's not like I hate you or anything," she said, looking anywhere but his face.  
  
"Of course. I mean, not that I knew you didn't hate me, or something like that, well, I don't know," he said, his thoughts getting mixed up and coming out jumbled. "What I guess I'm trying to say is that I don't hate you either."  
  
"That's very nice of you."  
  
"Write it down, I'm not nice too often." Surprisingly enough, Hermione burst out laughing.  
  
"Not nice too often? I've gotten about five year's worth of niceness this morning then," she said, in-between giggles.  
  
"Woah, five years worth? I need to cut back on my output of niceness. Besides, it's Halloween and I felt like giving that to you," Draco said, indicating the watch. Hermione put it back on.  
  
"I don't have anything for you though," she muttered. But just then, her face lit up. Hermione scrambled out of bed. "I do have something for you." She walked over to her closet and pulled out a small black box. She brought it back over to the bed and sat down. Then she handed it to Draco. He took it carefully and examined the outside.  
  
"What is it?" he asked.  
  
"Well you have to open it," Hermione said sarcastically. Draco flipped the lid open, and the something inside reflected the light. It was a small, silver ring with a matching silvery chain. On the inside, the initials H.G. had been carved.  
  
"It's very-very." Draco began, trying to find the exact word.  
  
"Silver?"  
  
"Shiny."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"It's nice," he said. "Although I think it's just a bit too small to fit. Are you sure you want to give it to me?"  
  
"Of course I want to give it to you. Besides, I wasn't expecting the ring to fit. That's why I put the chain in. You can wear it around your neck, or wrist, or whatever," Hermione said, and turning very red indeed.  
  
"Oh I see," he replied quietly. The room was silent again. Not a peaceful silence, more like an uneasy or nervous one. Draco could see Hermione grinding her teeth silently together, glancing around the room, not really taking the sight of it in.  
  
"Well now that we've exchanged Halloween 'gifts', what do you propose we do?" Hermione said, breaking the silence. Draco scratched his nose, which was steadily accumulating a bluish-black bruise.  
  
"There's a park or two nearby," he suggested weakly. "But do you really want to go anywhere, in the.erm, condition you're in?"  
  
"Condition?" Hermione laughed dryly. "You're speaking to me as if I'm mortally wounded. Sure I'll go." She stood up and grabbed her cloak. "Unless you don't want to be seen anywhere with your, ahh, nose."  
  
"My nose? What's wrong with my nose?"  
  
"Nothing's wrong, it's very.red, from the.erm, weather," Hermione explained. Draco smiled slyly and touched his wand to his nose. The bruise disappeared.  
  
"Maybe you hit your head just a tad too hard on the concrete, because you're a bit dim today."  
  
"Me? Dim? I can be stupid at times too, you know, I'm not always top-of- the-class," she replied bitterly, pulling her gloves on.  
  
"Stupid at times? You're stupid oftener than that," Draco pointed out. "And besides, you've always been top-of-the-class."  
  
"And that's a good thing.right?"  
  
"Well it depends on who you're talking to. If you ask me, it's a bit unfair being second best at all of the exams. If we're talking Neville Longbottom, that's a different story. He can't tell his broomstick from his--."  
  
"You know, that walk sounds lovely right about now," Hermione said hurriedly, whipping the front door open.  
  
"What? I was only going to say that he couldn't tell his broomstick from his wand."  
  
"Funny. Very funny. Now let's go," Hermione replied firmly. Draco just grinned innocently at her and stepped out of the open door.  
  
"What's funny?"  
  
"Nothing is. Now move," she said, pushing him over so she could lock the door. Draco scowled. "Well, maybe there is something funny."  
  
"Is it about Longbottom?"  
  
"No," she replied harshly. "It's about these past three weeks."  
  
"Ahh, so we're back on the 'what-I've-learned-so-far-as-an-Auror' track," Draco said. "What were you going to say?" he added quickly, as they walked down the many hallways to reach the lift.  
  
"I was going to say that it's funny how we've been here for three weeks, and I still don't know more about you."  
  
"Oh, I see. We're at the introducing ourselves thing again."  
  
"Not necessarily introducing, we've been through that, but what are your passions? What is your plan for the future?" Hermione pressed the down button for the lift.  
  
"Passions? That's easy. I have this thing for women in bikinis," he grinned. Hermione cast him a displeased look. "Oh, you mean as in books, or writing, or poetry."  
  
"Of course that's what I meant."  
  
"All right then. I do enjoy some of the books in the Restricted Section of the library," Draco began. Hermione raised both eyebrows.  
  
"Restricted Section? You don't mean those kind of books."  
  
"Oh no Hermione. I'm talking about books such as Devoting Yourself to Voldemort in Five Easy Steps. Oh course I mean those kind of books. Books that we're not supposed to read yet have the advantage as Head Students. You've probably seen them before. I'm talking Theories of Transubstantial Transfiguration."  
  
"Oh you mean those books," Hermione said quickly, her cheeks turning pink. "Yes, they are very interesting." Draco gave her an interesting look, one that looked like something between amusement and contemplation.  
  
"Granger, Granger. What a naughty mind you have."  
  
"Shut up," she replied angrily, walking past him and into the lift, which had just beeped at them. Draco stepped on, still looking interested.  
  
"What I'm trying to say, is that I enjoy reading books in the Restricted Section in my spare time. I'm usually around there you know. I do believe you've seen me there, I've seen you quite often. Was that because of the books? Or was it because some amazingly good looking Slytherin--."  
  
"Get stuffed, I go there for research, and research only. Maybe I check out a few for reading in the common room, but mainly it's for research."  
  
"Whatever you say," Draco began, in a drawling voice. Draco and Hermione stepped off of the lift and crossed over to the front doors of the hotel. Then, they stepped outside. It was snowing slightly. Not enough to be a snowstorm, but just enough to give the area a look of enchantment. The sky overhead was a pale gray, the air filled with fog. While Hermione clutched her coat tighter around herself, Draco had his casually slung over his shoulder.  
  
"What about your future plans? What will you do after Hogwarts?" she asked, her breath coming out in the form of water vapor, making her nose turn pink.  
  
"This whole Auror thing has opened a new window of opportunity, but I'm not really sure what I want to do, really. What about you?"  
  
"I've always wanted to be a librarian," Hermione replied, rubbing her hands together. "But I'd also like to be a professor."  
  
"Really? What would you teach?"  
  
"I'd like to teach Arithmancy or Ancient Runes. They're both fascinating subjects."  
  
"Two of my favorites," Draco said.  
  
"What, you don't like potions?" Hermione teased, poking him on the arm.  
  
"Potions!" Draco laughed. "Just because I suck up to Snape doesn't mean I enjoy him or his classes," he pointed out.  
  
"You seem very intrigued by his form of teaching. And with his potions. I see you talking to him, and he gives you some quite often." She looked up at him.  
  
"Oh those potions," Draco muttered, and surprisingly, he looked a bit uncomfortable. "Those are just a special request of mine, nothing important."  
  
"Special request?"  
  
"It's nothing," Draco repeated. Hermione lowered her gaze.  
  
"So who do you converse with the most at Hogwarts? I see Crabbe and Goyle are still there (A/N: they failed), but you don't seem to pay much attention to them anymore," she said. Draco shrugged.  
  
"Potter I suppose," he said, and Hermione snorted. "No I'm being honest. We have more run-ins than Filch and Peeves, and I do believe that's saying something."  
  
"Can you think of one time that you've said something nice to him?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Who, Filch or Peeves?"  
  
"I'm talking about Harry, don't get stupid now," she scowled.  
  
"Something nice to Potter?" Draco repeated, a blank look on his face.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Of course I have," Draco replied, his face calm but his voice slightly shaky.  
  
"You have?" said Hermione, in an astounded tone. "Give me an example."  
  
"An example? Here's one. After that Quidditch game, in sixth year, I said 'Congratulations Potter' when he won. Does that count?" he added hopefully. Hermione shook her head firmly. Draco sighed. "Okay, so I've never said anything nice to Potter. Big deal."  
  
"It is important that you two set aside these juvenile ways and become friends. What am I supposed to do when we get back to Hogwarts? He's not stupid you know."  
  
"He's not? God I wish someone would have told me that sooner, I've spent nearly the past seven years believing he was!"  
  
"Draco please!" Hermione begged.  
  
"Please what?"  
  
"Talk to him."  
  
"I talk to him."  
  
"Can you talk to him without saying git, Potty, stupid, or pathetic in the same sentence?"  
  
"You forgot mental," he added. Hermione glared at him. "Fine! I'll talk to him, if you'll leave me alone about it."  
  
"I want you to apologize to him."  
  
"What?" Draco cried out. "You've gone too far. I will not apologize to Potter for something I didn't do."  
  
"You've tormented him, teased him, and manipulated him--."  
  
"Enough, enough," Draco replied, with an elegant wave of his hand. "I'll.sort of tell him that it's okay, or something. I'll think of a way."  
  
"Swear it?"  
  
"Yes, Hermione," said Draco wearily.  
  
"Swear it by your family name?"  
  
"Do I have to?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Fine, I swear it by my family name."  
  
"Excellent," Hermione beamed. "Let's shake on it." She held out her gloved hand, and Draco hesitantly took it in his own. Her hand was only a bit smaller than his, but with both of their slender fingers entwined, they looked just about the same size. He let go of her hand almost as quickly as he had touched it.  
  
"Here's the park," Draco said abruptly, pointing across the street. The park looked like a snow globe, the peak of the trees capped with snow, the sidewalk slippery from the morning frost. They walked for a few minutes until they reached a park bench located next to the water fountain, which surprisingly hadn't frozen yet. Hermione sat down carefully, her hands in her lap. Draco sat down next to her, his arms folded. Draco and Hermione didn't speak; they just listened to the wind whistling through the trees. It blew Draco's hair into his face, and he brushed it back, irritated. Hermione studied the outline of his face carefully. The most captivating thing about him was his eyes, which were as clear as glass, yet shrouded in a thick gray mist at the same time. Thinking that to herself, it wasn't possible for glass to be clear, and to be misty gray. But it was possible for Draco. Beneath his eyes, dark blue circles stood out scarily against his pale skin, a sign he hadn't slept peacefully for days, maybe even weeks. Then, her gaze landed on his lips. Her heart did a funny flip flop as she laid eyes on them, remembering the night he had been drunk, and kissed her soundly in the snow. Of course she had punished him severely for that. But not even the harshest punishment could ever make her forget the way he had kissed her, even if he had been drunk. Her eyes wandered back up his face, and she saw a pair of cool gray eyes staring back at her.  
  
"Yes?" Draco asked. He had turned to look at her, and had seen her staring intently at him. Hermione started and turned a brilliant shade of red.  
  
"Ahh, nothing, nothing at all," said Hermione, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear. "Just thinking, as usual."  
  
Draco stretched his legs out in front of himself and leaned back against the bench. "About what?"  
  
"About the weather," Hermione replied quickly. Draco raised an eyebrow.  
  
"The weather," he repeated. "It seems.cold. What's so enthralling about it?"  
  
"It's beautiful," scowled Hermione, crossing her arms and holding her chin high. Draco looked like he was about to laugh, but he didn't.  
  
"It's okay," said Draco, waving his hand dismissively. "It's cold, but it's okay."  
  
"You have so much enthusiasm in you today, Draco," Hermione giggled, glancing at his stern face. Draco turned to look at her, an amusement in his eyes.  
  
"Oh really? I hadn't noticed." Hermione faced him too, her arm hanging off the back of he bench.  
  
"Tsk tsk, such a grumbler."  
  
"I am not a grumbler," Draco replied carefully, flicking an imaginary piece of lint off of his black cashmere sweater. "I am a certified git."  
  
"Certified git indeed," growled Hermione, crossing her arms.  
  
"I've even got a shiny plaque on my wall, you should come see it sometime!" he added.  
  
"Is that an invitation to your house?"  
  
"And I beg to differ that it is a manor. And it could be an invitation, if I wanted it to be."  
  
"You're crazy."  
  
"Am not."  
  
"You are!"  
  
"Am not."  
  
"Yes, you are."  
  
"Is this conversation going anywhere?"  
  
"Yes, you are-oh, no, I guess it isn't." Hermione paused, resting her wrist against her temple. "Who's that?" Draco turned to look in the direction she had indicated. There was a tall man standing on the other side of the park in a long cloak, and he was watching Hermione and Draco carefully.  
  
"I don't know," Draco said quietly. "Looks like a curious fellow, doesn't he?"  
  
"Somebody's with him," Hermione said abruptly, as another figure emerged behind a large cluster of trees. Another after that followed.  
  
"Perhaps it's a party group. Those happen quite often you know. And they'll be striding over here in a minutes time, shooing us off for invading their reserved property."  
  
"They're leaving," Hermione said, after a moment. The cloaked figures all turned and left, walking hurriedly out of the park. Draco shrugged.  
  
"How do Potter and Weasel put up with you all the time? All this detective work, suspiciousness."  
  
"Well maybe it comes from having a near-death experience each year. You get used to it."  
  
***  
  
Author's Note: Well this chapter was very fun to write. Draco being nice.wow, that's a shocker. I took quite a few things from many sources, and I'll name a few with their rightful.err, owners, whatever you would call them.  
  
The scene where Hermione asks Draco about his father, about liking him or not, is taken from the book Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes. As I was reading it, my mind automatically clicked: Draco!!  
  
The part where Draco asks Hermione about getting off his back was taken from the movie Bring it On, which I just recently saw with my little sister. Once again, it clicked Draco.  
  
When Draco is in a hurry to get away from Hermione, he says 'Sorry Hermione, I'd love to, but I'm teaching my pet ferret to dance'. I found this quote on a website, as I was browsing around. Thinking ferret, fourth year, and Draco, (gosh, he's never off my mind, is he) I thought it would make a good comeback for ickle-Dracokins.  
  
And the whole Halloween kick was started, because as I am righting this chapter, it is October 10. Thus leading to the decorations and such. And a lot of these scenes were written while I was listening to an old song by Bryan Adams, called 'Everything I do, I do it for you'. Thinking of the later chapters I would write and sticking it in with the scenes, it fit perfectly, so expect a few lines off of the lyrics to slip into the story.  
  
Speaking of later chapters, I have the ending mapped out. There will be alternate endings, and so far, four of them are thought up. I just have so many possible ways to end this fic, that it's hard choosing just one. I'll make the one I think is best the original ending, but for those of you who are picky, or would like a different ending, it'll be there.  
  
Thanks to my beta, Draco's Gurl, and for those who reviewed. You guys are so inspiring and keep me going! 


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